Naruto: Brothers of Sand and Leaf
by Geor-sama
Summary: Brothers are not always of flesh and blood. With a hint of Orochimaru's new location, two such brothers are sent out into the world. Unfortunately there not alone and on such a mission, there maybe more than one plot going on.
1. Chapter 1

**Naruto:  
**_Brothers of Sand and Leaf  
_By Geor-sama  
-Chapter 1-  
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:  
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:

The moon shone brightly in the dry, clear air while a breeze shifted the sand. In the distance, temporary mini sand tornados would come into being before dying away unnoticed by anyone in the village, who as usual, were barricaded inside their homes. This was a wise decision against the fear of something far more deadly than the desert, a demon that roamed their streets at night in the guise of a human.

Gaara of the Sand.

The sleep deprived, red haired young man was currently standing crossed-arm in front of the stairs that led down to the Hidden Sand councils who were currently discussing something of major importance. Not that the pale ninja cared or even thought about them in more than passing.

No, he was far more interested in reflecting upon his Kanji for 'Love' and the fight he had been in about six months ago. His pale-green eyes never once blinked as he relived the only battle that he had ever lost.

Yet he knew he was being watched, he was always watched. Normally he would kill the watchers painfully, but held his desire in check now. Every time his mother would whisper for the blood, he would remember what his new brother had taught him during their fight. But it was very hard and he did give in every so often.

Silently and without reason he shifted his distant gaze away from the village and stared at the approaching girl that he only vaguely considered his sister. Temari flashed him a nervous smile, adjusting the fan she held casually over her shoulder. Standing the large fan up beside her, she attempted to assume an air of indifference.

Gaara continued to stare at her for a moment, then he looked away. He had been trying to be nicer to Kankuro and Temari, though it didn't always work. But he didn't feel the urge to kill them quite as much anymore, so that had to be something.

"Why did the elders want to see us so late?" a new voice said suddenly and Gaara shifted his attention away from the village to stare at the taller boy who was dressed in an all black jumpsuit, with a bandaged dummy strapped to his back and his face painted with thick purple lines.

"I don't know," Temari answered after a moment, placing a hand on her hip as she turned to glare down at the door.

"Well at least they picked a warm night for this," Kankuro muttered glancing at his sister's clothes in obvious disapproval. Temari caught his gaze and frowned, as if preparing to respond acidly but let the response die on her lips as Gaara shot them both a warning glare.

He could already hear his mothers whispered urging and Gaara didn't feel like testing just how much he was beginning to care about them. Silently the insomniac ninja turned and descended the rough-hewn stones, his scared siblings following behind him hesitantly. Coming to a stop Gaara short, staring at the sand-battered door until it opened to reveal a Sand Jonin.

* * *

Tsunade stared out at the gathered group in front her, fingers laced together and elbows resting on her desk. To the left stood the five sand ninjas: a girl and four males. One of whom she knew from the descriptions as Gaara, he really did look insane. Eyes narrowing she shifted her gaze to the three ninjas gathered on the other side of the room. 

The fattest one was lounging against the wall munching on chips. The only leaf girl present, who had long blond hair, was currently whispering something to the bored looking, dark-haired male in front who had his arms folded.

Tsunade narrowed her eyes, considering the only combat experienced ninjas currently available. The ones guarding the walls were out of the question for this mission and everybody else was already in the field and not due back for a while. Still she wished that she could send somebody other than Shikamaru, Ino and Choji. This was above an A-ranked mission and considering who the last two members of the five members Leaf team would be, she wanted somebody that could actually control them.

Not that having five Leaf ninjas with five Sand ninjas was exactly a good idea, because despite the progress in relations between the two villages nobody really trusted each other. Actually, Tsunade amended; things are only a little better than open war. Still, she had no other choice and this was a mission that needed to be done quickly.

Thankful before she could talk herself into postponing the mission, which could prove very dangerous, she was drawn from her musings by a loud boisterous voice arguing with a slightly more subdued feminine voice in the hallway through her closed door. Hearing his energetic and loud voice was actually rather good to hear right now, though she knew that by the end of the meeting she'd be more than ready for the silence of his absence.

Tsuande like everyone else in the room jerked when the door slammed open and a pink haired girl, dressed in a red dress and black shorts dragged a furiously arguing blond ninja into the room behind her behind her by the ear. Recovering the Fifth leaned back in her seat, amused to see the expressions on the two adult Sand ninjas.

"Uh, Oi, Hey!" the boy glad in an eye-catching orange jumpsuit said loudly, looking around for the first time at the gathered ninjas. Realizing who was in the room he burst to the front of the room, hands on her desk knocking over a stack of papers. "What's going on here! Uh Granny Tsuande?"

Tsuande bit her lip and balled a fist up, clenching her eyes shut resisting the urge to knock the boy through the building and across the street through another building. Wouldn't be the proper thing to do really, but oh it was so tempting. Opening her eyes she stared at the young ninja who seemed unfazed and was continuing to stare at her expectantly, ignorant of the shock, annoyance or embarrassment he had created in the Leaf ninjas.

Sighing, the sannin took a deep breath relaxing her body the best she could, answering his question in an even tone "You have a mission-"

"Hepph," Naruto said, hands going up behind his head "I've got to train and find out-"

"NARUTO!" Tsuande yelled bolting out of her seat to lean forward, while the boy frowned, staring at her. Chest heaving and aware that more than a few males might just be ogling her chest she lowered herself back into her seat, scowling. She knew that if Naruto wasn't powerful, or she was so fond of him, there was no way he'd have been selected for this mission. He was just too stubborn.

"Please, Hokage-sama," Sakura said politely from her spot near the back, shooting Naruto a dark look "What's the mission?"

Sighing Tsuande composed herself for a moment then nodded continuing, glaring at Naruto daring him to interrupt her. "The Hidden Sand village believes it's found the location of Orochimaru's newest hideout. They've sent a five-man team to check it out, but...it would take them through our territory. Thus their council has asked that we send five of our own ninjas as support."

"Eh?" Naruto said then turned serious, hands falling to his sides.

Tsuande was pleased to see his reaction and she noted absently the intent look on Sakura's face. Continuing on she expanded much of what had been discussed with the Sand ninja's earlier, making it clear to the Leaf ninjas that no fighting among themselves would be tolerated. She had covered the same boring things in a hundred other briefings thus, she gave it almost in a mindless daze. Once finished she dismissed the sand ninja politely and then sure that they were gone she shifted her attention to the Konoha ninjas.

Steepling her fingers together she remained silent for several moments before speaking "This is a very serious mission. I don't expect all of you to return, so please don't take unnecessary risks." They were all silent and Tsuande stared hard at Shikamaru "The Sand have insisted on their own leader for this mission. Frankly I trust them about as far as the Thirds grandson could throw them, so I'm putting you in unofficially charge of your team. If this mission turns into a trap get our people out, preferably alive."

Nodding the black-haired boy shifted his body weight "Something's bothering me Hokage-sama, why us? Orochimaru is way out of our league."

Sighing, the woman leaned back in her seat and crossed her legs staring at them all thoughtfully before answering "The honest truth is you're the only ones available. This mission takes priority over any missions that I could give you and waiting for Jonin's or anyone else currently out on missions would waste valuable time."

"How troublesome." Shikamaru muttered, shoving his hands in his pockets. After a curt nod at the leader who ushered his regular teammates out of the office the buxom blond Hokage stood and walked around to lean against her desk and cross her arms once more.

Silence settled over the three of them, until Sakura finally broke it. "Why are you sending me Hokage-sama?"

"Because," Tsuande answered sweetly "You know the rote skills and have some on hand experience. But you need field experience Sakura-chan, this is a good chance. Besides, you wouldn't be able to focus if I kept you here knowing that Sasuke could be at the other end of this mission." The girl blushed and the Hokage smiled fondly before looking at Naruto who seemed lost in his own thoughts.

Suddenly he seemed to notice her attention and looked at her expectantly. The Hokage glanced at her apprentice who seemed to get the hint and discreetly slipped out of the office leaving the two of them alone. Satisfied Tsunade shifted her gaze back to the blond; she had to have this out with him now. "Naruto, do you know what it means to be Hokage?"

Startled the energetic blond stared at her for a moment before laughing "Of course I do! It means you're the best ninja and everybody acknowledges you."

Tsuande couldn't help but sigh. "Being Hokage isn't about just being the best or everybody acknowledging you." Seeing his frown she was reminded strongly of her younger brother for a moment, which despite her seriousness forced her to smile slightly "Being Hokage is about making tough choices Naruto, about doing what's right for everybody in the village."

"Eh?"

"Naruto if you were made Hokage today, right this minute, what would be the first thing you'd do?" Tsuande asked resolved to the fact that she would have to guide him to the answer, despite how satisfying just turning him loose on an unexpecting village would be. The blond did seem to actually give her question serious consideration. That was a good sign; at least she thought it was he wasn't exactly the sharpest kunai in the pack after all.

Finally he snapped his fingers; beaming at her "I get it this is a test right?"

"Uh?"

"To become Hokage! I knew I was close, but I should have known there'd be a test so...this it right? Right Granny Tsu-" his excited rambling was cut short however when Tsunade thumped him on the nose, sending him sailing across the room and into a wall. He remained in the impact crater for a moment then fell to the ground groaning. "Owww! What was that for!"

Tsuande snorted "You need to think before you speak...do you honestly think you're ready to become Hokage now?" Naruto sat up rubbing his nose as he tried to staunch the flow of blood, glaring at her darkly. Yes, Tsuande was reminded strongly of her brother and her lover at times, but there were other times where he reminded her of Jairya. Those usually were when she thumped him on the nose, which had become an undiscussed habit between them.

Once he was back on his feet and reasonably recovered she posed her question again and Naruto snorted, crossing his arms. The silence this time stretched on for a long time then finally when he answered Tsuande was rather pleased. "First...I'd have to figure out a way to keep the villagers safe I suppose. Then I'd have to work on the Hyuga Family about that seal because I gave my word...I'd have to keep searching for Orochimaru and Sasuke." He paused smiling brightly, hands behind his head, obviously pleased with his answers as well.

Nodding Tsuande crossed her arms once more, looking at the ground then back up at him after a few minutes "You could be Hokage Naruto, if you could actually think like that all the time. But you've got this selfish need, your promise to Sakura which is admirable, is the only thing that seems to be in your head. This village is damaged, it's holding together because everybody is pitching together. Every ninja that we have is either on defense all the time or out on a mission, every ninja but you. All you do Naruto is turn down missions that the village needs done, because you've selfishly obsessed about making Sakura happy."

"I..." Naruto paused then looked at her closely, his shoulders slumping while he lowered his head.

Tsuande shook her head, knowing that her tone had been harsher than she had meant it to be. But he had to understand and she could only take so much of this, the village needed him like all the other ninjas and he wasn't pulling his weight.

"I just...the old man Hokage..." Naruto stopped looking up at her, his blue eyes seeming to try and convey some silent meaning to her "I'm just trying...I'm sorry," he mumbled at last and lowered his eyes once more. Tsuande remained silent for several long minutes, stunned that he would actually mutter those words and grasp the lesson so clearly. Or at least seem to, she corrected herself. He did have a tendency to learn the wrong things from lessons he was taught. "I won't give up on Sasuke, or on stopping Orochimaru. I will protect this village...and everybody important to me." Naruto said softly then looked back up at her, gaze intent and serious "I promise."

Tsuande couldn't help but smile in fondness at him. "I know you won't and I'll make sure you keep that promise. Just remember that you have to help out more, no matter how stupid a mission seems. I promise anything I send you on is something the village needs done."

Seeing his mood moving into a more upbeat feeling she laughed, then stopped as a wicked smile crept across her face. This was one of those rare moments when Shizune was gone and had left only the personal bodyguards that everybody insisted the Hokage had to have. True there were seals to detect the use of Genjutsu and Ninjutsu, but they couldn't tell who was performing what ability. Her smile grew even wider and if she could have gotten away with it, she'd have rubbed her hands together in anticipation.

"Hey, hey! Granny Tsuande why are you smiling? Hey, what's so funny?" Naruto said looking slightly peeved at being left out of the joke and Tsuande couldn't help but smile even wider.

"Naruto, can you do me a huge favor?" Seeing his interest she continued, pleased with her plan "I'll buy you all the Ramen you can eat in an hour if you do."

"All the Ramen I can eat!" Naruto said incredulously then rubbed his hands together in a rather disturbing fashion. Tsuande chose to over look this however; she was rather fond of him after all. Crooking a finger so that he came closer, she lowered her voice and explained exactly what she wanted.

* * *

The apartment was relatively small and dark. It consisted mostly of a bedroom, a bathroom, a kitchen/living room and one spare bedroom that had been transformed into a practice area. It actually, despite how the outside looked, wasn't all that bad inside. Located in a more isolated area of the village, it seemed rather neglected and uncared for, much like its owner. Naruto had discovered the place after running away from his last set of foster parents, well it wasn't so much that he ran away as they had kicked him out and threatened him with bodily harm. 

The blond ninja in question was currently sprawled out on his sagging couch, his ninja supplies packed and his food carefully selected. He wasn't about to forget food, especially the ever-ready packs of Ramen. Smiling he placed his hands behind his head, considering the events of the day. This mission was big, bigger than anything he had tried on his own and he was slightly nervous.

He remembered his time in the academy, how he had always managed to mess something up and despite the various missions he had been on since then that fear continued to lurk within his heart. He didn't want to mess up, he knew that he was running out of chances to find Sasuke. Thinking about that he turned his thoughts to Tsuande. Everything she had said to him in private made him feel guilty, all this time of dreaming of being Hokage he had never considered what the actual meaning behind the title meant. He understood it of course and he also understood her implied instructions about 'making tough choices and doing whats right for other people'.

After this mission he would have to readjust his priorties. There was no doubt about it, yes he would still bring Sasuke back...but he had to make the hard choice of putting the village first. It was, he realized, a very mature thing to do and he felt proud about making it. He would be Hokage someday, everybody would acknowledge him and he'd protect this village and everybody that lived here.

Sakura would, well she'd be married to Sasuke. That was something else that was bothering him. He still liked Sakura, still wanted to date her, but now...he was accepting that she wasn't going to be with him. It was a very painful realization, one that he didn't like making. He kept it buried deep in his heart most of the time, pretending like always. He was very good at pretending, nobody could beat him at it.

Sighing he closed his eyes, forcing the familar pains back into the recesses of his mind. Instead he thought about the fun he had had helping old lay Tsuande make good her escape. Oh, he knew that he would be yelled at by Shizune when he came back, but it had still been fun. His mass replication had provided the cover, allowing two transformations to take place unnoticed. One Naruto had become Tsuande and one Tsuande had become a Naruto. After that it had been easy to sneak out of the office and into the busy streets with all twenty of his clones.

He wouldn't have done it if she hadn't offered to buy him all the ramen he could eat, unfortunately she hadn't known just how much he could eat and thus, her entire escape for a bar and casino had been pointless since she had had to spend all of her money to pay for his meals. Still, she had escaped and she as happy about that and the few hours she would have free of all the tedious paperwork she was forced to do, which Naruto completely understood.

He was already planning his own ways too escape when he to became a Hokage.

Stifling a yawn he snuggled into the sagging couch, he really should get up and go to bed. But he was so comfortable and he would be up in a few hours and have to come back down here, so maybe he should stay where he was at. It seemed like the wisest course of action, no use wasting energy after all since he was going to be on a long mission and it was going to be with five people that he didn't particularly care for or trust. Without even realizing it he had drifted off to sleep, his face innocent and snores echoing through the empty apartment.

* * *

The dark clothed ninja crouched down, hands pressed against each side of the window and balls of the feet just below the windowsill. Slate colored eyes watched in silence as the thirteen year old girl changed clothes and prepared for bed, he studied every feature of the room and the occupant that he could cataloging it away for future reference. Then nodding to himself he watched as the girl picked up a picture for a moment, then once she had replaced it and climbed into bed turning off the light, he eased himself upright. 

Defying gravity with his feet placed firmly against the side of the building he frowned before pushing off noiselessly, performing a back flip to rebound upward heading for the roof of the building. Landing in a crouch he produced a kunai with barely a whisper of movement. Scanning his surroundings he snorted and stood, strolling across the roof to the edge where he paused staring down into the alley.

Silently he leaped across the expanse, moving along the rooftops putting more room between him and the buildings with each passing second. Twenty rooftops away he paused and crouched down once more, within a few feet of the surrounding walls of the village and guarding ninjas. Performing the hand symbol of an owl to mold the required Chakra he whispered his intent "Yoru bijon."

Suddenly the dimness of the moonlit night was replaced with colors as if the entire world was suddenly bathed in sunlight. Smirking he scanned the wall noting the ninjas, then continued on, keeping an eye on the wall as he went. Satisfied he turned away from the outer row of homes and blinked, releasing the technique. Picking up speed he darted from roof to roof till he reached a moderately nice building and landed without a noise on the balcony, kunai still in hand.

Cautiously he moved toward the dark glass of the sliding doors and tapped three times with the weapon. Seconds later he was greeted with four rapid taps and he nodded, rapping an answer out quickly. He moved back slightly, weapon held up in front of him as the door slid open fractionally to reveal a sliver of a dark apartment. Then when it slid open even more he eased inside, not letting his guard down till the door was closed and he found himself crouching among his comrades.

There to the right was Temari, the annoyingly smug fan girl, and her asshole of a puppeteer brother Kankuro. Behind them, hidden in the darkness of the apartment stood the unmoving Gaara and to the left crouched Baki, their team leader.

"Well Sogetsu?" Baki whispered, his unhidden eye studying him closely.

"They're undermanned, like our spies told us," Sogetsu answered softly adjusting his weight on the balls of his feet, aware of the monster Gaara staring at him. "As for this 'team' that woman's sending with us, they're all just rookies that are marginally skilled, like you said."

"What about that pink haired bitch?" Kankuro asked sneeringly and Sogetsu smirked.

Baki nodded his face turning serious "Yes, what about this Sakura and Naruto?" At the mention of those names the room grew somber and Sogetsu was almost reluctant to explain. Glancing up into the narrowing eyes of Gaara he looked back at Baki quickly obviously terrified.

"I watched them after the meeting; apparently Naruto helped the Hokage sneak out of her office. Anyway Sakura and Naruto do seem to be close. They talked for a few minutes after she had berated him for sneaking the Hokage out, and he reaffirmed some sort of 'lifetime promise' to her." Sogetsu stopped and shrugged "What it was about I'm not sure, but after that they went to a Ramen shop to eat. They didn't leave until the sun started to set; they talked for a few more minutes about inane topics with Sakura hitting him over the head eventually. I followed the girl since we seemed to have enough information about the boy."

"Are they a couple," Temari asked quickly and then seemed startled at her seeming eagerness to know.

"No, good friends I would hazard." Sogetsu answered offhandedly, more intent on giving all the information that he could before he forgot it. "Sakura when she got home practiced some Taijutsu and Genjutsu and even a few ninjutsus, but nothing spectacular. But we know from our few spies she's been studying under the Hokage who's the famous medical Sannin, so...it makes sense she'd only practice some simple jutsu's."

Silence settled over them, not that it seemed to matter. Then finally Baki settled back on his haunches, his voice thoughtful "Nothing changes then,"

"Are we sure that this Naruto is-" Sogetsu started to respond, only to be cut off by the harsh voice of Gaara.

"He is."

"Temari," Baki said quickly to keep silence from settling over them "Don't fail." The blonde fifteen year old girl nodded curtly, not saying anything as she thoughtfully fingered the side of her large fan. The sand Jonin closed his eyes in thought, leaving the others to settle in for the night.

All save one, Gaara remained wide awake and waiting.

* * *

**AN:**

Welcome to '_Naruto: Brothers of Leaf and Sand_', my first Naruto fanfiction, inspired by Lackey H. I know that with so many wonderful authros already writing fics here that this storymight have been done before. I hope that if nothing else I might be able to enterain you, if not that at least maybe you can enterain me. As long as somebodies enterained, its a success.

Normally I'd have written a few shorter fics (I call them ficlets, meaning anything short enough to not need another chapter) but I'm sadly lacking such ideas. More importantly however is understanding that for my stories/fics/whatever, I come up with a plot first and then add relationships and etc later. I never write unless I have some story to tell. As long as we all understand that, we'll get along great.

Now then, concerning reviews. I know many authors ask nicly for them, some demand, some don't care...I have a unique view point in the matter. Simply put: Leave one if you feel like it. Critism is accepted happily, so is praise, and flames are also accepted since I never pay my heating bill and thus use my laughter over the stupidity of flamers to keep warm. ) Now if you can accept we'll get along. I do however, ask that if you must leave a flame that you keep it rather short as I loose interest quickly in idiocey.

All of that being said let me address the timeframe for when this fic takes place. It roughly takes place after the Episodes of the Anime where Naruto, Lee, Neji and Tenten have went to that village. From there on its AU, since the show is still running and future episodes will render this fic void. As for the Manga, I know its much further along, matter of fact I have been keeping up with it, so for this...consider it an unseen chapter of the manga before the two year time span.

Now, all of that being said ((I trust you all to know that the typical disclaimer would apply to this fic: I.e. I own none of the charactes, except Sogetsu who I trot out whenever I need a ready made character, so if by some off chance you own Naruto don't sue.)) I hope everybody enjoys themsleves and finds this at least mildy enteraining and a special thanks go out to Wandering Druid who gave this a once over for me.

Sincerely,  
Geor-sama

(On a personal note, I'm feeling rather old now. I can remember way back when my introductions/AN's were little more than: 'If ya don't like it go write your own'. Good lord, whatever happened to those days? Oh well, that's it...you can go now...Honest.)

(Really, you can stop reading now.)

(I'm not joking, your free to stop reading.)

(Just leave a review already! Yeesh.)


	2. Chapter 2

**Naruto:  
**_Brothers of Sand and Leaf  
_By Geor-sama  
-Chapter 2-  
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Leaning against the inside of the large gate, Temari glared out at the others surround her. This glare was a sign to those that knew her that she was in deep thought and would not appreciate being disturbed. It was also, to Baki, a sign that she was currently judging her brother Gaara's position and her fan. Safety was first in this group, even if Gaara was nicer.

Temari shifted her weight, propping one of her feet against the wall behind her, crossing her arms. Narrowing her eyes she considered the intent look in her brothers flat green eyes and she knew without a doubt where that intensity came from.

Uzumaki Naruto.

The only ninja to have ever beat Gaara, as in put him down for the count. Gaara hadn't been able to do much of anything for a full day he'd been so drained. That blond ninja was the only reason that the Hidden Sand council had been able to convince Gaara to do this mission. The off chance that Naruto would be placed in this group had been good and Gaara wanted, for his own reasons, to see the ninja.

Temari however would have preferred to have anyone else in her group other than Naruto. Not because he was a jerk, because what she had learned from the fragmented spy reports about him, he wasn't. It also wasn't because he was ugly, he wasn't handsome but he did have something that made a girl notice him. It also wasn't so much his age, three years wasn't that big a deal and since he was now thirteen she didn't feel quite so guilty about noticing him.

No, the singular, powerful reason she didn't want him in this group was: He beat Gaara. He had to be a monster as well, an even bigger and more powerful monster. Temari could almost feel it in her bones that those two monsters would eventually start fighting and that very few people would make it out alive when that happened.

Sighing the blond girl lowered her gaze, chewing her bottom lip thoughtfully. All of this made her mission from the council all that harder.

Seduce Naruto.

She'd have to get closer than a friend, closer than a sister, she'd have to become his girlfriend. All so that he would leave Konoha and join her in the Hidden Sand Village, so that the council could have two super-weapons at their disposal.

Temari at least took some comfort in the fact that at least she wouldn't have to lure that Lee kid or Shino. Naruto she respected, deep inside, probably even feared. Knowing how innocent he was she'd have to be obvious and push aside the slight guilt she felt about deceiving him. She was pulled out of her thoughts by the soft sound of crunching gravel, causing her to absently list a few statistics in her mind: Three people, one heavier than the other two, obviously not worried about silence.

Lifting her eyes she stared up at the approaching ninjas noting that Shikamaru, Ino and Choji were obviously less than thrilled about being near them. Temari thought that was rather stupid, to be that open about what you were feeling toward your fellow teammates. These leaf ninjas were almost like open books, easy to read and easy to understand. They'd learn though, if they lived long enough.

Lowering her gaze she smirked, at least relieved that she wouldn't have to deal with Shikamaru. She and the black haired Chunin hadn't dated really, there had been something between them, but she had grown tired of his unconcern and he had gotten sick of her meanness. Thus he had turned his gaze to a girl closer to home, namely the blond girl in his own squad, Ino. Temari didn't blame him though, it only made sense since inter-village relationships were too difficult to actually work.

Her only real complaint was that he hadn't had the balls to tell her in person that he wasn't interested in her anymore. No, instead Temari had had to learn about his change in feelings from their spy network, which was stretched pretty thin if the truth were known. The Hokage wasn't stupid, she kept them neutralized in such away that they learned nothing that she didn't want them to know.

Temari was brought out of her thoughts once more when the sound of a loud energetic voice chattering happily reached her on the air. Cutting her eyes up and to the left she found the blond boy, dressed in his orange 'Here I am! Kill me!' jumpsuit, walking toward them with boundless energy and smiling brightly. Next to him was his pink haired friend, Sakura. The girl looked less than thrilled about the energy Naruto was showing and kept shooting him dark glares.

Temari kept her face neutral, noting the small barely noticeable signs that Sakura hadn't slept last night. Was she that nervous about going out on a mission? It didn't make much sense, the girl had been rather brave when she'd stood up to Gaara to try and save the Uchiha. Maybe it was because of how much responsibility she had for this mission, not that Temari really cared. All that mattered was getting close to Naruto, if only she could figure out how.

That was when Temari winced involuntarily from the blow Sakura had just delivered to the side of Naruto's head. The blond sand ninja couldn't believe how hard she had hit him, Naruto's eyes were actually watering from the blow. Did the girl not know just how powerful he was? Nobody would dare hit her brother like that, Temari was sure that if she ever tired hitting Gaara it'd be the last thing she'd ever do. Sakura had to be insane!

Naruto however recovered and laughing started talking happily once more, then spotting Shikamaru darted toward them without an apparent care in the world. He was different from every other male ninja Temari had ever dealt with, they were all stern and serious. Proud and unwilling to be pushed around or laughed at. Yet Naruto didn't seem to mind, he was just happy. That was the only way to describe him, happy.

Temari found that unnerving and annoying, how could any ninja be that unconcerned about not coming back? This mission was easily the most deadly and he didn't even seem aware that even HE could die. Nobody was that unconcerned, nobody. Not even Gaara. Shifting her gaze to her younger brother she paused, seeing just how detached he seemed. Then it slowly sunk in, Naruto and Gaara were both detached from the fear of death. It was as if the two of them were in a different world from everybody else.

Taking a sharp breath she nearly toppled over from that chilling understanding. Not fearing death led to dangers that no ninja would ever take. It was a fundamental safety feature built into humans, to fear death, so that you didn't try anything too ridiculous. Yet these two didn't have that, which meant the entire team was doomed to a violent death.

"Alright," Baki suddenly said cutting across her chilling thoughts and drew everybody toward him. Looking down she watched as he knelt and started listing them in the marching order. So she would be behind Naruto, not the best position for her but it was a tough choice on where to place her.

"Hey!" a new voice shouted and as one they all turned to stare at the approaching ninjas. One was grinning almost like a dog, dressed in a gray fur lined jacket with a white dog on his head, the other one was walking in a measured pace, wearing sunglasses and a gray jacket that hid most of his face. Temari knew them from the chunin exam, Kiba and Shino, she didn't like either of them.

"Kiba!" Naruto shouted happily and jogged over to met the boy halfway, Temari noted however that neither of them seemed quite as friendly as they should be. Ninjas from the same village often talked openly, but from their body language there was an unresolved conflict between them.

Shino strode past the two seemingly friendly boys, leaving Kiba to explain the mission that had just come back from to an interested looking Naruto and a resigned Sakura. The dark haired, sunglass wearing boy passed within an arms length of Temari. He didn't even seem to register her presence and the blond sand ninja resisted the urge to hit him over the head with her fan.

He stopped next to Shikamaru and Baki, still unchanged from when he first appeared. The large sand leader raised his eyebrow and Shino answered the unasked question. "The Hokage sent us."

"What for?" Sogetstu rather irritatedly asked.

Shino turned his head slightly to acknowledge the man, continuing in that same calm tone "She felt we would be better suited for this mission than Ino and Choji."

Temari almost blanched in realization of what this meant. Ino and Choji were being replaced by these two, which meant she would now have a bug creep in her group. Baki snorted crossing his arms, while the others started to move in to find out what was going on, all save Naruto and Kiba who continued talking loudly at each other.

"So...Shikamaru's gotta go without us?" Ino asked softly, and Temari almost laughed at how pitiful the blond girl looked. When Baki nodded, Ino turned away and Shikamaru merely frowned even more.

"Awww," Kanakuro muttered as he moved to stand next to Temari, "So sweet...it makes me want to throw up."

Temari glanced at him, smirking slightly then looked over at Naruto, wondering how to go about what was required of her. Putting it off for a few more minutes she looked back at the group, listening absently to Baki rearrange their marching order. She was pleased to note that Naruto was now behind her.

Despite her happiness in the change of orders she saw Shikamaru glancing at Ino and for a moment Temari wondered why the Hokage would make such a dangerous switch at the last minute. Then it hit her, those two were dating. That meant Shikamaru could be blind sided, or blackmailed. How could anybody other than Gaara possibly let someone so close to them die? It would be a weakness that a clever enemy would notice and exploit.

By removing her the Hokage was removing a problem. But obviously she wasn't aware of the conflict between Naruto and Kiba, unless she had included Shino for the express purpose of being a buffer between the two if things became heated.

Temari shifted her attention back to their group leader, unsurprised that he took the change in stride. After a few extra minutes filling in the new arrivals Shikamaru, Choji and Ino moved away from the group. To far away to be heard and Temari sighed in annoyance at this new delay. Did these guys really not understand what was going down? They didn't have time for this, because they really were going to seek out Orochimaru, not attack if the could help it, but to make sure that the location was correct.

Rolling her eyes the sand ninja saw the fringed indifference in Shikamaru as he spoke to Choji, before looking at Ino. The girl looked almost ready to cry, honestly how pathetic could you get? Temari could almost guess what she was saying to him, Ino would ask if he really had to go and then beg him to refuse. Shikamaru would respond that he couldn't just run away and that it was troublesome. When Ino took the boys hand, Temari couldn't help but snort. She was startled however when Ino suddenly leaned up and kissed him, then stepped away.

Feeling vaguely annoyed that she didn't have anyone to kiss Temari looked away from the couple only to find Sakura and Naruto standing close by. The sand ninja couldn't help but wonder what the blond was thinking, then he turned away from the sight glancing at the pink haired girl behind him. "Sakura-chan?"

Sakura glanced at Naruto, giving him a small smile. Temari puzzled over that for a moment, trying to figure out if she should use this to her advantage if she could. Then before she could reach a moral decision Baki's voice cut across the still morning air.

"We're wasting time." Sighing she slipped the fan into the sash over her shoulder and moved forward as the others fell into place. At least they were finally getting started, Temari took comfort in that.

* * *

The forest path was beautiful considering that summer was beginning to fade away. Already there was a sting of coolness in the air and trees were getting an early start on shedding their leaves. The majestic beauty was lost however to the pink haired girl currently following Shino as they moved ever onwards. She was reflecting on Sasuke, Naruto and herself. 

They had all been through so much together and now they were each moving along a path that took them away from that time together. Sasuke was studying under possibly one of the most evil ninjas that had ever existed, willingly. This mission meant that she would come face to face with him for the first time since that night. He wouldn't want to come back, not willingly and she had her fears that Naruto wouldn't be able to drag him back.

Naruto who was fast becoming a superb ninja that the villagers were starting to notice as something more than an disruption. He wasn't nearly as reviled as he had been, at least Sakura thought he wasn't. But then he spoke so little about his past she wasn't really sure what he was used to. He was fast becoming her most important friend, he hardly asked her out that much anymore and she suspected that the few times he had were just from habit. He was loyal to a fault, she had learned that the hard way.

That was why when she betrayed him she would never be able to forgive herself. Sakura would fight alongside him to the very bitter end, would probably die with him if she had to, but if the choice came like she knew it would; she would turn on him. She'd betray her village, her family and her friends. If Sasuke would let her join him, she'd betray them all. He had her heart and she couldn't take it back. That was why she had spent last night just laying in bed, thinking about what this mission meant and what she would have to do.

Shifting her unseeing gaze from the forest she stared at the blond ahead of her, he had his hands behind his head and he was chattering happily about some inane topic. Seeing him like that she felt a leaden feeling settle into the pit of her stomach, it was funny that out of everybody that she would betray to be with Sasuke he was the only one she felt guilty about doing it too. Naruto understood her, Naruto knew who she was really and he trusted her completely and utterly. Would he ever forgive her? She prayed he could, because his was the only forgiveness she wanted.

She put those thoughts and feelings into a compartment of her mind, the mind was nothing but compartments where things were placed or hidden until you wanted to think or see them. At least that's what Tsuande had told her once during their lessons. The mind, if understood, could help heal many injuries the body suffered. As a medical ninja Sakura had been forced to learn to compartmentalize her own thoughts and it came in handy because now she could focus on her immediate mission.

Keeping everybody in this group alive, which meant she reviewed every single medical supply and skills that she had. How would things work with Shino's body and the chakra bugs? Or Gaara and that sand? Naruto was the least of her worries having learned from Tsuande and some personal observations that he healed very quickly and didn't seem quite as susceptible to poisons as other people. She wasn't clear how he managed that, but as long as he didn't do anything too stupid she wouldn't worry about him.

For a moment her old insecurities welled up inside her, what if she messed up? What if she accidentally did something wrong and cost a team mate their life? Or crippled them or any of a thousand and one other things. Could she even be of any help during a battle, other than to possibly maim her team? She was going to be a burden on everyone and Naruto would have to help her, have to shoulder the consequences of her stupidity.

Then her pride flared up and turned those fears into ash. She had put in hours of effort into her training under the Hokage, probably as much as Naruto was putting into his. She wasn't just becoming a great medical ninja, she was also developing some of the sannin's legendary strength and even becoming more skilled in her taijutsu. She wasn't in Naruto's ball park yet but she was close, she could feel it. Which meant she wouldn't be a burden at all, this time she'd be out there fighting with the rest of them. _'HELL YEAH!' _her inner-self shouted in agreement and Sakura allowed herself to smile.

Oddly enough, it was the same smile that Tsuande had anytime she had an excellent plan for escaping her duties as Hokage. It was a rather disturbing smile actually.

* * *

Kiba listened softly to Akamaru's whines and soft barks, not breaking stride as he took in all that his friend and pet had to tell him. He sniffed the air softly, his Chakra increasing his range. It was faint like Akamaru had told him, but it was there. The smell of old blood, just up ahead and to the left. It was nothing, probably just a wounded animal, but he'd keep his eyes opened just in case. He couldn't let his guard down, not even here in Konoha, not with these bastard's traveling with him. 

He fingered the cold metal of his kunai inside his jackets pocket, listening as Akamaru barked softly telling him how close the group leader was. He refused to trust these sand ninjas, even if they had saved him during the Sasuke rescue mission. At least he wasn't alone, Shino was with him and Sakura and Shikamaru and Naruto...so he at least had four people he could count on.

He looked up slightly, listening to Akamaru carefully before he looked around considering the forest. They were definitely reaching an area he didn't have too much knowledge about, which put him on guard even more. When Akamaru barked yet again he smiled "I think so too."

"Think what?" a deep voice said from behind him and Kiba looked around at the large man following behind him.

"I was agreeing with Akamaru." Kiba answered off handily "You told us that we're going east and that's all and here we are walking through a relatively unknown area of Konoha openly. It's strange."

"We're heading to a small island off the coast of the Water Country," Baki answered blandly "The Sand Council believes that Orochimaru has hidden himself there and we're walking so openly because I figured we'd be fine for now in Konoha even if it wasn't that well known. Or are you saying that Konoha can't police its own country side?"

Kiba narrowed his eyes, snorting in disgust as he looked ahead. He really didn't like that bastard, not that it mattered. Right now he had to keep moving, keep them out of any traps because the truth was the Hidden Leaf village really couldn't police the country side like it used to. It would be very possibly for enemy ninjas to be roaming the countryside, but the Godaime had given him and Shino specific instructions to kept that fact a secret.

Akamaru barked softly and Kiba nodded in agreement not responding.

* * *

Naruto was curious, which meant of course that eventually trouble would follow. He couldn't help it however, he was a curious person by nature and he had very little reservations about following the curiosity through to the end. Currently what had caught his curiosity was the girl in front him, or more to the point her clothes. 

Why, he couldn't help but wonder, was she dressed in a soft blue shirt and skirt combination with black mesh that didn't really cover either of her legs and a red sash that held her folded fan in place? There was a chill in the air and it was already past lunch time, she should by all rights, be a bit cold and he didn't think that her choice in clothes were very combat effective.

This of course was his curiosity only AFTER he had spent the last two hours staring at her legs in a rather Ero-sennin fashion. He had of course also noticed just how developed she was compared to the other kunoichi he knew, he also knew however that despite her looks she also had a short temper and a cruel streak.

Naruto resisted his curiosity for as long as he could, roughly five minutes, then he found himself tapping her shoulder. He wasn't even sure what he was going to say, it had been pure impulse on his part. When he noticed the girl glancing back at him, her gaze both annoyed and expectant, he felt himself blushing for some strange reason.

"Well?" Temari asked rather archly and he gulped, unable to form a coherent word. Snorting she turned away and Naruto couldn't help but sigh, putting his hands behind his head. Some part of him felt rather embarrassed about how tongue-tied he had just gotten. He had hoped that after so much time around Sakura and the other kunoichi he could actually form at least a single word.

"You're a smooth one." An offhanded voice said casually from behind and Naruto turned halfway to stare at the bored, black haired boy walking behind him.

"What are you talking about?" Naruto snorted, only to sputter at Shikamaru's bland answer.

"I've just spent the last two hours watching you stare at her legs Naruto."

"I was not!" Naruto declared loudly as he brought himself to a sudden stop.

"You're a noisy guy," Shikamaru muttered as the group continued past Naruto. The blond ninja scowled and hurried back into his spot. Naruto wasn't sure why he felt so bothered by someone noticing that he had been staring at a girls legs, if it had been any other girl he'd have been looking at her just the same. Wouldn't he?

He felt almost certain that he would have, after all it was boring just to walk and he had to look at something. Temari happened to have something worth watching, there was nothing else to it. He did wonder though, why he felt so unbelievably embarrassed just thinking about her legs. It wasn't like he even liked Temari, after all how could he, he barely knew her and she was mean.

Mentally sighing he allowed his attention to drift back to the girl in front of him, staring at the back of her head in silent contemplation. She had nice hair, he decided after several moments, then wondered what she would look like with her hair loose. He however wouldn't dare ask her to let her four ponytails down, that might get him hurt and get Shikamaru hinting at something. Besides, girls never did things to their hair when a guy asked unless they really liked him, so the chances of her letting her hair down for him was zilch.

Forcing his mind away from considering Temari he instead thought about his current team. He wasn't thrilled about having Kiba and Shino in this group, but he trusted them to do their best. Still the unspoken accusations in Kiba's eyes unnerved Naruto slightly. It wasn't his fault, Naruto said decisively to himself, she knew she didn't have to do it to make him proud. "Didn't she?" Naruto questioned softly looking at the path at his feet.

Like the previous times that question was asked, he received no answer and just like those other times, it was soon shelved in favor of thoughts about training and this mission. Naruto squinted his eyes, not out of boredom but because he was hard at work on a new move.

However he could feel his stomach starting to rumble and he knew that they wouldn't be stopping till late night. He was tempted to break out the ready made packs of ramen, it would taste good right about now. Placing his hands on his stomach he had to resist the urge to start drooling, just picturing the steam rising off a bowl of ramen was almost overwhelming.

He was pulled from his daydreams of ramen by the sudden feeling that someone was staring at him. Looking around like a surprised animal it took him a minute to realize that Temari was looking at him from over her shoulder. Blushing under her scrutiny he held her gaze until she looked away huffily.

Without her attention focused on him, Naruto frowned spending another six hours trying to figure out why exactly she had been looking at him. Hands behind his head he turned over every possibility he could conceive of, which being rather dim in certain matters, weren't very brilliant.

Without knowing why he glanced back at Sakura who upon noticing his attention smirked in the same disturbing manner as Tsuande. Looking away quickly Naruto couldn't help but hope she wasn't plotting something that would force him into an early grave.

* * *

Temari stared at the dimly burning embers of the fire from her position on the ground, her fingers lightly touching her fan. Across the clearing she watched as Sakura gave the dark forest one last worried glance before slipping inside her tent, leaving Temari lying beside the fire and Gaara sitting against a log. Sakura had been the last one to give up on seeing Naruto when he returned. 

The blond ninja had, upon hearing that they were setting up camp for the night, slipped unnoticed out of the camp. He was out there, doing who-knew-what, but nobody had been sent after him. Despite the way the others had treated him the entire day, none of them had volunteered to go get him and Temari took that as a sign that they did fear him. Even Baki and Kankuro had rejected the idea of searching for him and nobody had been brave enough to order Gaara to find the boy and bring him back.

Temari was actually sort of glad he had disappeared, because without his constant chatter which did prove funny more often than not, she had the chance to consider everything she knew and how exactly she should manage what was required of her. Unfortunately she had spent the whole night thinking about how openly he'd been staring at her body all day, she had felt his eyes all over her body and he had made no secret of his gaze so everybody else knew what he was doing as well.

That still sent a little thrill up her spine; nobody had ever been that open in looking at her. He knew she was a ninja, he knew she was related to Gaara and he was still looking at her like that. Shikamaru had never looked at her quite that openly and the few boyfriends she'd had before him had been instistant that they kept the relationship discreet. It was her private curse for being related to Gaara, nobody wanted to get close to you or sustain a relationship when you're youngest brother was a sociopath killer that barely had a toe-hold on sanity.

Temari found herself smiling despite herself, hoping that Naruto would be just as open in staring at her tomorrow. She liked the feeling it gave her and she absently decided that seducing him wouldn't be so bad; or so hard. However the part of her mind that wasn't quiet satisfied with those thoughts reminded her that Naruto would never leave Konoha. He was too loyal for that. _Still_, she argued sleepily, _it would be fun to try_.

Without realizing it her eyes drifted closed, her breathing becoming light as she began to doze. Her dream was odd, more dreamlike than ever; centering on the fight between Gaara and Naruto. Only it wasn't Gaara the blond was fighting, it was the Uchiha and instead of the stupid pink haired Sakura that Naruto had been trying to save it was Temari. Her mind rebelled from the dream suddenly and she found herself staring across the now nearly dead embers of the fire at an entirely different Naruto than she had ever seen.

His seemingly inexhaustible energy was nowhere to be found, and that playful look that was never far away from his eyes was missing. Even the constant smile he always wore was missing. Yet he wasn't serious, or upset or even mad, he was just staring at the nearly extinguished orange-red embers in a sort of silent contemplation. Slowly he pulled his legs in to his chest and rested his chin on them, just like Gaara did when he was about to sleep. Temari however, found it disturbing to see Naruto doing that.

Should she say something or move? Would he get upset if she did or make a loud noise and wake up the whole camp? She didn't want either to happen, this was the first time they had been alone since the start of the mission. Considering all the possible situations that might arise from her letting him know she was there, she was caught off guard when he lifted his head and turned his gaze upon her. Curiosity was evident in his features, but Temari didn't notice that. She was busy staring back at him, lost on what to say or do and unable to breath.

Those blue eyes, which he normally kept in a squint, were staring at her with such intensity that it actually scared her. It was almost like he was trying to decide what to do with her, like a fox would an unexpected intruder in its den. She finally managed a breath when he seemed to reach some conclusion and looked away from her to settle his gaze back on the embers of the fire.

Convincing herself that her reactions had been due to being startled she sat up, realizing dimly that her hair had managed to work itself loose during her nap. Leaving her hair alone for a moment she focused her green eyes on the Naruto who was now smiling brightly. If she hadn't known better Temari would have sworn that the Naruto she'd seen when she first woke up had been nothing but a dream. "Where were you?"

Naruto reached up, scratching the back of his head smiling even wider "Training. I'm working on this new move and I need lots of practice," he paused, scowling at her in a comical way "And don't you tell me not to train so much. If I'm going to become Hokage someday I gotta have a lot of moves."

"So...you were just training?" Temari asked both surprised and terrified, though she hid both emotions expertly. She could see the faint traces of what appeared to be a fight, so she took at him at his word about the training. He was trying to become Hokage, which meant he was getting stronger, but what would happen when the village refused to let him be the Hokage? No village would let a monster to become a Kage, but the new question for her was he really a monster? She couldn't answer that and she wasn't about to push to find out.

Allowing herself to smile she pulled her fan into her lap and began polishing it the best she could in the dim moonlight "Sakura, that's her name right? Anyway, she and those other ninjas were worried about you." watching him surreptitiously, she noted the small frown on his face, which let her know that he didn't like people worrying about him when he was training. So he did have SOME male pride, that was useful to know.

"Does it always get this chilly here?" Temari asked suddenly, looking up from her polishing efforts to establish eye contact with him. When he looked at her again, she allowed herself to shiver hoping that he would get the hint and give her his jacket. She wasn't really all that cold, but it would be the typical romantic gesture.

Instead he grinned like a child and answered her happily "Sometimes it gets even colder. We get snow here..." Then without any real reason he began recounting one winter in which he had spent his time making snowmen on the balcony of his apartment, the giant one he had made, Snowman Hank, especially being his favorite since its head had fallen off and splattered the people on the street below. "Which of course they deserved since they were throwing ice balls at my head earlier!"

Temari couldn't help but laugh at his story and the indignant sound in his voice as he defended himself. It was silly and stupid, no other guy would have shared a story like that, at least none that she knew. "I bet your parents got a good laugh out of that uh?" she said between laughs only to realize she was the only one still laughing.

Letting her rather hallow laughter trail off she stared at the boy as he lowered his gaze, leaving her in an awkward silence. How could she have been so stupid? So simpleminded? Of course he would get upset about his parents, because they had to be just like her father, cruel. It was the only logical reason why he was always so happy around other people. Desprately she tried to switch tracks and recover from her mistake. "The desert doesn't get this-"

"I don't have parents." Naruto half-whispered cutting her off, not looking up "I never had any. I was always in a foster family, but none of them wanted me. Nobody wanted me; nobody even wanted to know I was alive or see me. The families kept throwing me out and after the last time I just stayed on my own."

"Naruto,"

Lifting his head he gave her a rare, earnest smile while his blue eyes reflected the dim glow of the dying embers. Added to this was the moon as it finally slipped out from behind the clouds over head, highlighting his hair in such a way that it made Temari realize he looked rather handsome right then. "I grew up by myself, with everybody ignoring and hating me. Then somebody noticed me, accepted me, and now I have friends. Family sort of and I'd do anything to protect those important to me."

Temari sat there, holding his now intense gaze. His promise, that he would protect those important to him, made something inside her almost scream out that she wanted to be included. She squashed it though, knowing it was only because of her loneliness and not because she actually liked him.

Still she found it odd how he had grown up in almost the exact same conditions as Gaara and came out like this instead of a killer. Shaking her head she stood her fan up before standing herself which allowed her stare down at him. "Sometimes having parents isn't a good thing..." When Naruto raised an eyebrow she took that as sign to expand on her statement and she did just that. "Father would get very angry when Gaara would disobey him and since the sand protected Gaara he took it out on those he could touch."

She paused, wondering why she was telling him this other than some part of her wanted him to know, to say something...what she wanted him to say she didn't know. Naruto remained silent for a moment, his eyebrows pulling together as he tried to understand what she was implying. Temari saw the moment it finally dawned in his eyes and swore that for a moment she had seen something evil stirring in them. But his features were soft now and she felt it was time to leave him alone.

Yanking her fan out of the ground she flipped it easily sliding it into her sash expertly. Turning she started for her tent only to stop when he said her name and frowning slightly she turned back to stare at him "What?"

"You're hair looks good like that." Naruto smiled cheesily, his innocent blue eyes wide as he stared at her.

Glad that the darkness hid the faint blush in her cheeks, that was the first time any guy had ever commented on her hair in such an open way, she snorted turning away "Whatever whisker boy, goodnight."

Naruto continued to smile until she disappeared into her tent, then when he was alone all humor left him. All that was left was a contemplative blond who looked back down at the now dead fire-pit for several long moments. Slowly he lowered his head so that his chin rested on his knees, while his eyes stared into the moonlit darkness matching the unwavering gaze of Gaara.

Neither said a word, merely stared at each other through the darkness of night, as if in some private conversation. Uzumaki Naruto and Gaara of the Desert, the monsters of Leaf and Sand.

"So...you like Ramen?"

* * *

AN:  
Here's chapter two. I hope you enjoyed it. Also, Wandering Druid, who's a great beta-reader, as told me of a mistake I made. I should credit him as Wanderer3. So there, tha'ts done. Big thanks go out to him.

Geor-sama 


	3. Chapter 3

**Naruto:  
**_Brothers of Sand and Leaf  
_By Geor-sama  
-Chapter 3-  
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Nara Shikamaru stared blankly at the side of the tent, listening to the loud snores directed directly at his ear. It never failed that for the few days that they had been out here, Kiba would somehow manage to wind up next to him and snoring directly in his ear. This, in Shikamaru's opinion, was the problem with sharing a tent with someone else. Everybody had annoying and troublesome habits and in such a confined space they were only going to be revealed to everybody.

Sighing the black-haired Chunin sat up, aware that it was only Kiba and himself inside the tent. Shino, for some unknown reason, woke up an hour before sunrise and would leave the tent. Naruto had never spent an entire night in the tent; usually he would go to bed before everybody and then would disappear sometime during the night. The blond would always be at the fire talking with Sakura, Shino and Temari in the morning.

Getting into a half crouch Shikamaru opened the tent, slipping out into the cool morning. The leaves and grass actually sparkled with the dew from the previous night. Glancing to his left he noted the position of his fellow teammates; Gaara was still sitting against the log staring at Naruto who was seated between Sakura and Temari. Baki stood a little ways off talking with Sogetsu; with Kankuro near the tent they shared working on his dummies.

Shaking his head the boy turned heading into the surrounding forest, knowing how troublesome it would be if anybody spotted him. Once enclosed by the silence of the forest he allowed himself to reflect on the mission, wondering who the ninjas were that were shadowing them and what they're mission was. Maybe they were just keeping an eye on them or preparing for an assassination. Shikamaru would put money on an assassination, only he wasn't sure who the target was.

Frowning he shoved his hands into his pockets, tilting his head weighing each team member but still unable to figure it out. Well at least everybody in the team knew they were here, at least everybody except Naruto who had been beyond distracted by Temari's legs. Not that it mattered the blond would more than carry his own weight when the fighting started.

But that was something else that was bothering him, Temari and Naruto. Not that them getting together really bothered him, it was too troublesome to get worked up over. Besides he was with Ino now and despite her overbearing and loud nature, Shikamaru really did care for his fellow leaf ninja.

Still, something was bothering him about the relationship between Naruto and the sand ninja. Why her sudden interested in him? Sure he was strong, but she hadn't been interested in strength. Hell, he could count the number of times she'd even mentioned Naruto to him on one hand...using three fingers.

Something just wasn't right about that whole situation and Shikamaru knew he wasn't the only one that sensed it. Sakura seemed to be aware of something and Shino obviously had to know...and Kiba was becoming snappish and more withdrawn, a sure sign that he did not approve of what he was sensing. Everybody but Naruto seemed to know that something was off in that relationship, but then again Shikamaru wasn't surprised.

Naruto might have been great in battle, seeing things quickly that others would miss or ignore. But in the world outside of battle, the boy was utterly clueless. Shoving those thoughts aside the Chunin eased himself down into a sitting position, back against the trunk of a tree.

Stifling a yawn of boredom he stared up dispassionately at the thin wisp's of clouds over head, reflecting that he loved the silence. Yet there was a small voice in the back of his mind, whispering that something was missing. He shrugged it off for as long as he could, enjoying the chill in the early morning air.

For some reason thinking about the chilled air brought his mind back to Ino and he found his lips twitching into a smile, dating Ino had been one of his better ideas. She had finally understood his desire for a moment in the morning where he could be utterly surrounded by silence, of course he in turn was dragged everywhere she wanted to go.

It was at that moment, remembering how she bossed him around so much, that he finally realized what that small voice in his head had been telling him was missing: Ino.

The girl made the silence better, lying out together in the forest around the village staring up at the sky. They'd meet before the team was suppose to see each other and then just wander out into the forest and stare up at the brightening sky in utter silence. Her head would rest on his stomach and his would rest on his hands. It was one of the few times that she was silent and Shikamaru treasured those moments.

After a few more minutes he sighed, standing back up knowing that if he didn't get back soon he'd have to listen to a lecture. He found that prospect far too troublesome so the wisest course of action was to head back, then his ears heard the crack of a twig. Seconds later four ninjas appeared, most of their faces covered in masks so that only their eyes and eyebrows showed.

The one apparently in charge was laughing "I wonder if all the ninjas Konoha sent are this stupid. Rule one is to never go off by yourself."

Shikamaru merely scowled his hands still at his sides.

"Oooh, are you trying to be tough or are you scared?" The leader taunted, laughing.

"I think he's scared." One of the other ninjas interjected laughing as well.

"I wouldn't worry about things that much," one of the other ninjas said, chuckling "You won't be alive much longer to care."

Shikamaru continued to glare at each of them in stony silence.

The leader smiled thinly, producing a kunai wrapping a scroll around the handle "I'll make it quick and painless…just because you remind me of my little brother."

That said the leader hurtled his kunai forward, aimed directly between Shikamaru's eyes. It would have been a perfect hit, except it passed completely through the boys head and struck the tree. Seconds later the four mysterious ninjas were leaping into the limbs high over the clearing while a green mist settled over the air.

"Damn it!" the leader hissed looking at the other three, before focusing on one with blue eyes "I thought you hit him with the Temporary Paralysis Technique, Giichi!"

"I did!" Giichi retorted hotly and the leader narrowed his green eyes.

"Then how the hell did he manage to disappear and leave behind a Clone?" The leader hissed back then shifted his gaze to the other two ninjas "The plan can still work. I'll find him, Daiki you have to hurry. Daisuke make contact with our insider and tell him what happened."

Both nodded before leaping away into the forest, leaving Giichi and the leader alone. Silently the two ninjas remained motionless, then Giichi spoke "This one was just lucky, Murai. I don't think any of them are as strong as we were told."

"Maybe Giichi," Murai murmured, green eyes narrowed as he considered the forest floor below "But I'm not taking any chances. I want you to head to the rendezvous point and wait there, get things ready. We can't risk failure."

"What are you going to do?" Giichi asked after a moment, raising an eyebrow.

"Play a hunch." Murai answered cryptically before dropping to the floor and disappearing into the forest.

* * *

Sitting crossed legged, facing away from the fire and his teammates the young man dressed in the black jumpsuit selected a thin tool designed especially for work on marionettes. Frowning, he carefully detached the head from one of his prized devices of death, Karasu. Easing the mouth open, careful to avoid the spring loaded poison daggers, then set to work adjusting the minuscule gears that controlled the joints of the mouth. 

He prized his puppets more than anything; and with an almost religious zeal he would maintain them and adjust the most minor of things. He paused setting the tool he was using aside and eased the jaw shut before extending a strand of chakra to open the mouth so that the dagger extended. Seeing that it had indeed react slightly faster he cut his chakra string and picked up the tool once more.

He had learned from his brief battle with Shino not to long ago that Karasu had slow reaction time, thus he was almost obsessing about speeding it up. Every joint and crease had been tweaked to get maximum speed and power, all except for the head. For some reason Karasu's head was being stubborn about letting him adjust its gears for speed, but it didn't matter Kankuro would keep working at it until he was satisfied.

Checking the device once more he smiled, pleased with the progress so far. His hand hesitated, tool inches from a gear as he realized just how close to the poisoned dagger he was. Easing his hand back he set the tool aside, considering the other tools for a moment, then glanced over his shoulder at the various Leaf members of his team.

He saw Kiba and the damn dog of his that kept trying to mark its territory on Kankuro's marionettes, goofing off. Closer to the fire was 'Kill me' -Kankuro's private name for Naruto due to his loud nature and clothing- who had Sakura AND Temari laughing at something he'd just said.

He couldn't understand what kind of sense this made, none of them had been able to fight evenly with those sound ninjas that had kidnapped the Uchiha so why send them on a mission where they'd have to face the very man that had killed both the Hokage and the Kazekage? Cursing all the evil spirits that had conspired to torture him with this team, he turned back to his project.

Taking a steadying breath, he picked up a different tool. This one was thinner and longer, allowing him to keep a moderately safe distance between his hand and the dagger as long as he concentrated and kept his hand perfectly steady. Narrowing his eyes he slowly tweaked the minor gear, wondering if this would increase his precious puppets reaction time as he thought.

"ARF!"

Jerking Kankuro tossed the head into the air both startled by the sudden barking noise and the fact that a small furry object had slammed into the back of his head. Tools scattered the ninja sprang to his feet, kicking out at the white dog who dodge growling up at him "You little mutt!"

"Hey!" An angry voice said and Kankuro looked at Kiba who was stalking toward him "He was just chasing a damn ball. It's not his fault."

Kankuro in response to this kicked out again, only to have his foot bit by the dog. Yelping in surprised pain the sand ninja shook his leg before finally forcing the dog to release his foot and sail through the air to land in Naruto's arms. Glaring at that dog and 'Kill Me', he swore under his breath.

"Oi! Akamaru was just having fun; you didn't have to freak out." Naruto said, while Akamaru growled in warning at the still glaring Kankuro. All the gods in the heavens, did he have to have these three morons on his team?

Then suddenly he remembered Karasu's head and he began looking around in a panic, until he found that pink-haired bitch picking it up. It didn't seem too damaged; maybe a slight dislocation of a jaw but that was because he'd had it open at the time. He could fix it; maybe, he'd have to check his material first to be sure though.

Turning away from the puppet head, he glared at the dog, his voice venomous "That damn mutts lucky I can still fix it! He should be put to sleep and save us all a headache!"

"What'd you say!" Kiba interjected angrily, moving as if he was about to attack the boy.

"I didn't stutter!" Kankuro shouted back, gesturing at his puppets head without looking "Look at what that kunochi's holding! Your mutt of a dog caused that and I'm personally going to see he's put down." He winced however as the puppets head bounced of off his to fall to the ground and turned to glare at the now pissed looking girl "Keep your damn hissy fits to yourself ya pink bimbo!" Snorting in disgust, he looked back at a defiant Kiba.

Only instead, he found an angry looking Naruto in his face, which startled him so badly that he actually took a step back.

"Don't call her that." Naruto said with a sharp edge to his voice.

Kankuro resisted the urge to respond and start a fight that he so desperately wanted to. Baki would loose it if he did, so he merely rolled his eyes in disgust and then keeping an eye on Naruto, Kiba and Akamaru, he picked up Karasu's head.

Squaring his feet, he allowed the chakra strings to attach themselves to the puppets head if he needed it. "You keep that mutt away from me and my puppets," Kankuro said dangerously staring at Kiba's livid face "If you don't I'll neuter both of you!"

Kiba's eye twitched, his fists balling as he prepared to attack. Kankuro was ready, his chakra strings were ready to launch Karasu's head in a half second.

"Hef," Naruto suddenly interjected loudly "Kiba's suppose to be scared of a guy that plays with dolls?" There was a moment of silence then Kiba started laughing, leaning against a stoic Shino. Sakura covered her mouth to keep from laughing out loud, though Temari wasn't making a secret of her laughter.

"Bastard! They are action figures and when used properly deadly tools!" Kankuro roared at the now laughing boy, which only seemed to increase the amount of laughter directed his way. Glaring at the blond, the mutt and Kiba, Kankuro turned scooping up his various tools and puppets stalking away from them. Their laughter ringing in his ears, he would have attacked, he should have attacked, but Baki had been adamant about none of them fighting with each other and the only person scary than Baki when he was angry was Gaara.

Turning to glare at them, he sat down angrily and picking up the tool kit, he placed Karasu's head in his lap and started to work, repairing it. He paused however, sensing the attention he was receiving and looked up, frowning darkly at Baki. "What?"

"I know how much you hate the Leaf ninjas, especially that _boy_, but remember the mission."

Kankuro clutched the tool in his hand tightly, his answer short and to the point. "Yes sir." That said he turned back to his marionette, focusing his entire being into what he was doing wanting to kill all of them painfully. How dare they laugh at him and his weapons? How dare Naruto call them such a derisive term, dolls! DOLLS!

"I'm going to kill him," Kankuro muttered to himself, reaffirming his silent promise from the preliminary matches of the Chunin exam. "I'll crush him then kill him." Kankuro grinned darkly, already hearing 'Kill me' begging for mercy. That was the one thing that Kankuro had in common with Gaara, when he wanted to kill he enjoyed it.

* * *

The forest was far too silent, it was bordering on unnatural. There should have been bird songs and predators moving stealthy through the underbrush, or even deer or a rabbit, some sign of life. Shikamaru stored this fact, knowing that it meant either he was in a genjutsu or something evil was in the forest. Moving quickly, leaving very little of a trail he wondered how he had gotten this far away from camp. Then again, it was understandable since Kiba and Naruto were in the same place, those two together in a small area was a recipe for lots of noise. 

Still he kept his black eyes darting everywhere, trying to get a hint of his bearings and his pursuer. He spotted the masked-ninja keeping pace with him off to the left among the trees. Apparently, this ninja didn't care about being seen...which prompted Shikamaru too leap out of the way a split second before a dozen kunai's and throwing stars slashed into the ground where he had just been.

Then before the black-haired leaf ninja could appreciate how narrow that trap had been he was leaping backwards to avoid the kick that had just sailed harmlessly through the air where his head had just been. Resetting himself the young ninja sized up his enemy then leaped to the side and forward as his real enemy attacked from the back. This mystery ninja was good, but he relied too heavily on clone ninjutsu.

Still as Shikamaru raced through the forest, desperately trying to regain his bearings, he knew that no matter how smart he was he would overlook something eventually. Which meant he'd have to go on the offensive soon; the question was how to do that? Seconds later he pulled a kunai and thrust it out to block the mysterious ninjas sudden thrust. Blades locking, Shikamaru slid backwards from the force.

This wasn't good, he thought narrowing his eyes. His enemy was both skilled and strong. No way could he win head on, but that was fine. Shikamaru knew that despite how troublesome this situation was, he'd been in worse and it was still only one ninja. Pushing the Kunai way with a strain the ninja leaped backwards, hands flashing through the seals required for his Shadow Imitation. It was a second after he had already sent his shadow racing toward the still off balance enemy that he noticed the masked man's lack of shadow.

He darted his eyes to the right and branched off a section of his shadow, capturing the enemy. Unfortunately, he had his concentration broken as several kunai's raced through the air toward him; apparently, this man had already set a trap even before he attacked. Moving quickly, Shikamaru dodged certain death but he had to release his attacker who wasted no time in launching forward in a new attack.

Relaying on taijutsu for the moment Shikamaru noted that the masked ninja seemed to be favoring his left side. So either it was his weak side, or he'd been hurt there recently. Not much to work with but it was something and he hastily formulated a plan. Continuing his dance of evasiveness the Chunin produced two kunai's, flinging one off to the side into the forest while the other arched out and stopped the incoming kunai aimed at his throat.

It was only a moment, but that was all Shikamaru needed, thrusting his foot out he kicked the man in groin and took off in the direction of the kunai he'd thrown. Fleeing quickly and not bothering to hide his tracks to well, giving the appearance of panicking he formed the hand seals creating two clones that each moved in a different direction intent on leading him to the clearing.

Spotting the kunai he'd thrown stuck in the trunk of a tree he jumped and sinking it deeper into the trunk, disappeared into the limbs high overhead. Shikamaru took a moment to study his surrounding then satisfied he left one last clone crouching down on the limb before he dropped noiselessly to the foliage on the left. Controlling his breathing he flashed through one last set of seals, molding his chakra whispering his intent "Demonic Illusion: False Surroundings Technique."

Across the clearing, a dead tree transformed into an illusion of him crouching down, breathing heavily and eyes closed. Done he quietly slipped his last kunai out so that he held one in each hand, then prepared to wait. Knowing his enemy, it wouldn't be long; hopefully the man would be so angry that he'd act without thinking clearly. He was gambling, not something he was prone to do but he had no other choice.

* * *

Gaara stared disgustedly at the surrounding foliage, loathing this forest for all of its greenness. At least it was quiet; Naruto's grumbles of annoyance aside. Gaara could tolerate them, mainly because they were curses directed at Shikamaru who everybody had to look for, and because they were in a subdued tone. That was one thing he would never be able to live with, excess noise. It quickly frayed his nerves and forced him to do things he would rather not do; it was one of the main reasons he killed some people. 

That was one of Gaara's problems on this mission -he had several actually- Naruto wasn't always quiet. Yet Gaara didn't feel quite the same urge to silence him that he did for Kiba. Naruto also seemed to change from moment to moment, like the desert. One minute the blond could be terrified, then the next utterly confident. One minute he could be as calm as a pool of water and then as wild as a sand storm. This was the reason why, even after the last few days of traveling with the blond he still couldn't understand Naruto.

He couldn't understand how the Naruto that had beaten him had been so scared the day before. He couldn't understand how anybody could always find a reason to smile, even when others couldn't. Gaara couldn't figure out why the ninja -who had to be as powerful as him if not even more so- would tolerate the constant abuse from Sakura and the names the other leaf ninjas called him. Most of all he couldn't grasp how Naruto could actually be lulled by the mockery of nature that was this forest.

Naruto didn't understand that nature was the desert, where you could wake up in the middle of the night and find a scorpion on your chest or a poisonous snake on the floor of your room. Nature was death at any moment if you weren't fast enough, smart enough, or strong enough. Naruto was, for lack of a better word, strange.

Yet Gaara continued to view him as a brother, because he knew that Naruto was a creature of duel personalities. During the day, he was bright and cheerful always joking and laughing, talking and constantly moving. At night however, at night Gaara suspected the real Naruto snuck out. The blond ninja always disappeared when the moon was up and he would stay away for hours, only to turn up dirty and battered later.

At night, Naruto was quiet and subdued. He would sit beside the burned out fire with an air that he was to be left alone with his thoughts. Eventually he would notice Temari who had begun sleeping near the fire until he returned, and then smiling an odd smile, he would talk with her. Sometimes Sakura would be there and he would talk with her, with that odd smile of his. Then after both girls had went to bed, Naruto would look at him and say something stupid, after which he would drift into a silent sleep.

Gaara understood that Naruto. He understood that Naruto perfectly and he was happy to share the night with him. Gaara also understood the smile he gave Temari and Sakura, it was an odd smile because it was a real smile. The ones that Naruto wore during the day were practiced, developed to keep others from knowing what was deep in his soul. To keep everybody from finding out just how lonely he was and how much he hated everyone.

Gaara used to have a look that was like that. Just a blank look that he practiced until it came naturally, until he wore it all the time and convinced everybody that he felt nothing. That he was emotionless and cold, willing to kill for whatever arbitrary reason that struck him.

Yes, Gaara understood the nighttime Naruto, but he couldn't understand the daytime Naruto. Because despite knowing that most of it was merely his act that he had practiced for so many years, Gaara also felt that it was the real Naruto as well. Maybe, Gaara hazard to himself, he's what I'm suppose to be. Both happiness and reclusiveness. Yin and Yang.

Thinking that the redheaded ninja tried to imagine laughing at one of the jokes the others told, or telling one himself. Just enjoying the world around him. He failed miserably and decided that Naruto was Naruto and he was Gaara, there was nothing else to it. He would still live by his brothers example, he wouldn't kill if he didn't have too and he would try to be nicer and he would fight for others. That was what made Naruto strong or at least he believed it was.

The sand ninja came out of his thoughts at the sound of Naruto's curses while the boy hopped around on one foot, having apparently stubbed his toe. Watching the blond part of him was annoyed at how clumsy the boy was, the other part found it odd.

"Damn it Shikamaru!" Naruto finally burst out heatedly, still favoring his stubbed toes. Glaring at the forest, he snorted and turned, only to find Gaara staring at him. The red headed ninja watched the look on his face carefully, as he did with the villagers and other sand ninjas. It wasn't fearful or repulsed it was a concerned anger. Why? Did he consider this Shikamaru important or was there something else?

Then he saw the way those blue eyes shifted to the left, as if thinking about something and then came back to settle on his face. Gaara instantly understood what was going on and the unasked question, he didn't feel hurt or angry surprisingly. "No." He found himself saying, continuing the staring contest that he had entered with Naruto. "I'm trying..." Gaara added feeling slightly annoyed.

Naruto's eyebrows came together for a moment before he turned away. "Damn it! Shikamaru where the hell are you?" The blond called once more, startling Gaara.

It was that easy? Naruto trusted him that easily? To be honest Gaara had never had someone take him at his word, at least never taken him at his word about not killing somebody. "You're different," Gaara said abruptly and Naruto spun to look at him.

"Huh?"

"You trust me. You're different...and you don't have the same eyes as before." Gaara crossed his arms, during their battle Naruto's eyes had been different and not just the shape or color, but in the determination and the loneliness that had shone in them. Those eyes had truly beaten him and had truly made him think that he had a brother. Not even Uchiha Sasuke's eyes had been that lonely or that determined.

"What the hell?"

"Those eyes, they told me you understood," Gaara said blandly, staring at the boys narrowed eyes and disgruntled face "That you were the same. " He paused, frowning slightly.

"I thought the same thing," Naruto said very softly "Like you were...a brother..."

"Huh?" Gaara grunted, mildly surprised to hear his own thoughts directed at him.

"Brothers," Naruto repeated in a distant voice as he lowered his gaze to the ground between them. Silence settled over the two for several moments until at last Naruto looked back up, his eyes once more as Gaara remembered. "But I've got a brother and I'm going to break every bone in his body."

"Uchiha Sasuke," Gaara said almost immediately after Naruto's statement. It was an almost obvious conclusion to draw; the two had grown up in the same village, in almost the same but not identical loneliness. Gaara supposed that in a distant way, he had too consider the black-haired boy a brother as well since he had managed to fight him evenly for a few minutes and he had been the first one Gaara had ever seen with the same hateful eyes as his.

Naruto continued to stare at Gaara, and then slowly one of those rare genuine smiles appeared "Brothers." Gaara stood there a moment, wondering if he had meant Sasuke then realizing that he had been affirming that Gaara was indeed his brother. Knowing that stirred something Gaara wasn't used to feeling but it wasn't completely alien.

Suddenly Naruto was there, arm slung around his shoulder and talking in a loud voice "Ok! First things first, we have to get you a sense of humor!" Gaara felt his eye twitching as Naruto rattled on, trying to explain the nuisances of humor to him as they moved nosily through the forest once more.

Maybe he should just use his sand to crush the blond and save him the headaches that he would experience down the road. As tempting as that was he didn't, trying to understand the joke Naruto was telling that involved three Jonins and a Hokage going into a bar. Maybe Temari would get the punch line, he'd have to remember the joke and ask her about it.

* * *

A rustling of leaves and suddenly a kunai was whistling through the air followed by a broad-shouldered masked man. He skidded to a halt as the kunai hit its target with a thunk normally associated with metal hitting wood. Before he had time to react, a shadow was attempting to attach itself to him, only he had no shadow and disappeared as another kunai came hurtling through the air up into the tree. 

Only this weapon too sailed harmlessly through a clone and the masked man moved into the clearing frowning, only to vanish when another Shikamaru seemed to throw a kunai from the left side. This new Shikamaru disappeared in a puff of smoke as the masked ninja dropped to the ground from over head.

"Got you!"

No sooner had the real masked-ninja uttered that than he found himself frozen by a Shikamaru who was on the right side of the clearing. "What! How!" the masked ninja shouted in distress frozen in postion.

"You were too obvious," Shikamaru answered, not breaking his concentration "Earlier in the fight you weren't favoring any side, then you started favoring the left. I bought it till I had time to set this up, when I realized the ploy I left a clone and switched positions to attack from the direction you wouldn't expect."

"So this was..."

"A trap-trap-trap-trap."

"I see," the masked leader muttered, struggling futile against the shadow hold the boy had on him "I thought it was just a trap-trap-trap. You're smarter than we were told."

"Heh, don't suppose you'll tell me what your plan is uh?" Shikamaru asked tiredly and when the man remained silent, Shikamaru closed his eyes and flashed through the seals, only opening his eyes to stare at his enemy "Shadow Neck Bind Technique." The leader's eyes went wide as he felt the cold sensation of a shadow slowly moving up his body.

Seconds later the insubstantial fingers of the hand grasped his neck tightly choking him. Two minutes later Shikamaru let the technique release its hold "I'm better than during the exams now, I can keep this up for an hour." Well, Shikamaru corrected silently, if I hadn't been forced to expend so much chakra I'd be able to do it for twenty minutes.

The Chunin could already feel the effects of creating so many clones; he had enough chakra to hold the mysterious ninja for ten minutes, after that he'd have to find a more permanent solution. Why did it always seem to end up like this, him using up most of his chakra so that he couldn't finish a fight on his own. He had no answer, all he knew was he didn't like it...maybe he'd start training with Naruto at night. He decided against that since it would be way to troublesome, his current training was hard enough.

"Heh, you should know I'll die before you get anything out of me." The masked man boasted and Shikamaru frowned even more, lost as what to do. He heard the rustling of undergrowth and was pleased to find the familiar presence of a friend beside him.

"I've been waiting for you; this entire deal is far too troublesome to handle on my own."

* * *

Sakura walked dejectedly back into the camp, her attractive companion muttering about males and their stupidity about wandering off because of male pride. Letting her green eyes roam she noted that everything looked ready to go, all save for the fact that most of the team was missing. 

Spotting Kankuro, Baki and Sogetsu talking on one side of the camp she quickly looked around to find Kiba and Akamaru. The two were located further away from the ninjas, satisfied she started toward him wondering why Temari was tagging along. They're search was over so the girl didn't need to keep hanging around, but Sakura brushed it off, not caring one way or another.

"Hey," Kiba muttered not looking up from the white dog that was crouching in front of him, rubbing its nose with is paws. Sakura gave a wane smile, sitting down nearby watching Temari move to lean against a tree. Looking away from the other girl she turned her attention back to Kiba who it seemed could read her mind "Nobodies found him."

"Oh," Sakura said gloomily, thinking hard about what she knew. He couldn't have gotten lost or been ambushed by the ninjas that had been shadowing them. He might have gotten hurt, but she doubted that. She hoped they found him soon because she really didn't want to tell Ino that her boyfriend just disappeared. It wouldn't be a pleasant conversation and Sakura doubted they could keep the girl in the village.

If they didn't find him soon though, the leaf ninjas would have to decide who the new unofficial team leader was. Shino would be a good choice, he was smart and he was calm. He would think things through and make good decisions. Sakura would refuse the job because she knew her own private goals, which would make her unfit for the job. Naruto might be able to do the job it'd be a good experience for him, but he was too hotheaded at times and didn't always plan things out. Kiba was also out because he was too much like Naruto and he hadn't shown any sort of ability to create a plan.

Frowning she compartmentalized those thoughts, taking comfort in the fact that Naruto was still out there and if anything bad was happening he'd stumble across it. That seemed to be his main talent, getting into trouble without meaning too and making it all turn out right in the end.

Turning her attention back to more immediate problems she noted the way Akamaru was acting and frowned a little more "Kiba-san...did something happen to Akamaru?"

"Yea," Kiba muttered darkly "We were on Shikamaru's trail when some sort of scent got in the way, it was horrible...but we didn't think too much about it till we realized that we couldn't smell anything." He pickedup a squirming Akamaru in an attempt to stop the puppy from fidgeting. "I used some medicine that cleared it up for me...but it's not working in Akamaru. I'm worried it's damaged his nose."

Sakura nodded absently then plucked the dog easily from the boy's hands "Let me take a look," then concentrating her chakra into a hand, she slipped easily into the dog's body. She did a brief check on the lungs first, and then moved onto the nose where she found that Kiba was right. The dogs nose was damaged, but it wasn't permanent merely uncomfortable. Without much thought, she healed it the best she could -animal physiology was harder to work with than human after all- then smiling handed him back to his master.

"Wow," Kiba muttered holding a now happily barking Akamaru; then the boy glanced at her grinning, "You're really good."

"It's just a simple healing jutsu," Sakura said brightly even though Inner Sakura was doing an odd dance shouting '_Hell yeah! I'm good! I'm good! Take that old lady Tsuande!' _Laughing without meaning too she found Kiba laughing with her and for a moment, she felt good.

"No, No! You say who's there!"

Startled Sakura turned to see Naruto strolling out of the forest with an unamused Gaara at his side. Naruto seemed to be working himself into a fit and his voice grew in volume, oblivious that Gaara's right eye was twitching dangerously "Ok, one more time! Knock knock!"

The redheaded ninja paused and cutting his eyes over stared at the blond beside him in what appeared to be a tolerate fashion "Who's there?"

"Boo!" Naruto exclaimed jerking his hands up, then back as sand came swirling up to where the spot where his hands had been. Naruto however was glaring at the dispassionate boy who was staring at him with a raised eyebrow "You're suppose too say 'Boo who?'"

There was a moment of silence and then Gaara repeated what he had been told, "Boo who?"

Grinning ear from ear Naruto shouted his answer, while slapping the other ninjas shoulder "Sorry didn't mean to make you cry!"

Sakura felt herself paling watching the two, wondering how Naruto could miss that dangerous glint in the other ninja's eyes. For the love of Konoha! That boy had a monster inside of him and he had nearly killed her and Sasuke, what could Naruto be thinking. Then she saw something that made her breath stop and she heard a small gasp from behind her.

"D-did ...did you see that?" Kiba asked softly from beside her and Sakura nodded.

"Gaara...just...smiled?" Temari whispered and Sakura nodded again, thinking that the smile had made him look twenty times more frightening. It didn't belong on his face, no smile belonged there it was unnatural. It was evil.

Naruto however seemed ignorant of that fact and smiling himself finally spotted them. Thrusting his hand in the air, he smiled a little wider "Oi! Temari, Sakura-Chan!"

Sakura blinked slightly, feeling suddenly put out that he hadn't noticed her first. It wasn't the first time -during the Tea Country mission, he had noticed Sasame first- but this time it felt slightly different. She puzzled over it for a few minutes as he started toward her grinning, deciding that she just valued him noticing her. He always noticed her, always got worked up over her and when he didn't she felt left out.

"You guys find Shikamaru?" Naruto asked as he plopped down across from Kiba and Akamaru.

"Sure we did! We just hid him from you that's all." Temari retorted and Sakura giggled into her hand watching as Naruto laughed as well, seconds before a playfully growling Akamaru pounced on him. Sakura watched the two, cheering Akamaru on for a few minutes before she stopped and glanced at the sun's position in the sky.

It was almost directly over head, time for lunch and still no sign of Shikamaru -or Shino she added absently- she felt the slight edge of worry eating at her, but she was hoping that Shino had found the boy and they were merely taking there time coming back to camp. However, this did mean one thing, until Shikamaru or Shino showed back up she was in charge of the leaf ninjas currently present.

Abruptly her thoughts were derailed by an intense stench that swept over the camp, forcing several people to dry wretch. Kiba and Akamaru however suffered the most, both whining and trying to protect there noses. Naruto was doing the same thing for some strange reason, but he wasn't being as frantic about it. Sakura was to busy trying to keep her eyes from watering to care about that.

After a few moments, either they were used to it or it had faded the various ninjas regained there normalcy and turned as one toward Kiba who pointed off in a vague direction talking in a nasally voice "It's Shino's secret weapon, some sort super stink bug."

Sakura turned in the direction he had pointed to find the sunglass wearing Shino and a bored Shikamaru standing just beyond the trees watching them. Sakura would have taken a breath of relief but unfortunately, the air was too thick with the stench. Then she noticed that the two ninjas weren't getting any closer. Baki seemed to be wondering about that as well since he started toward them, holding his own nose.

"This is the scent of an Akushuu bug," Shino explained not breaking from his calm manner to shout, "It'll fade in a few days."

"What happened?" Naruto called, then promptly choked from the lung full of air he'd absorbed.

"Shikamaru was being attacked by some local kids playing ninja, so when I arrived we decided to drive them off with this scent." Shino paused as if judging the wind before looking at Baki "I'd recommend that we walk down wind of you." Baki snorted and turned shouting thickly for everybody to get they're stuff and then stalked off.

Sakura however was studying the two and couldn't help but think that something wasn't quite right. She couldn't put her finger on it, but there was just something odd. She allowed Naruto to distract her, taking the pack he offered her without objection. The pink haired girl kept her eyes averted, reflecting on why she thought something was wrong then sighing she compartmentalized it saving it for the first post-town that they should be reaching sometime tonight.

* * *

AN: 

Here' the third chapter. Had to change the ending since someone guessed that I was going to wrap up the mission and have Temari and Naruto fall madly in love in chapter three. So blame them. Actually these chapters are flowing rather well, I don't have to struggle to much to get them down on paper (so to speak) so I'm happy.

Lets see, thanks go out to Wanderer3 as always. I tried to implemeant your suggestions Dchimera, but I wasn't entirely sure about them so I did my best. If I messed up feel free to point it out.

For those of you that are having trouble imiagining Gaara's smile at the end: If you can remember back in the ninties, when they made two Addams Familly movies, picture Wensdays smile at the summer camp. That's the type of smile Gaara shows. Creepy.

Oh, I disrupted my updating schedule: I'm going on vacation (MY FIRST ONE IN FOUR YEARS!) anyway, I'm giving you this chapter early as a present. So really enjoy yourselves and I hope nobodies disappointed by the Gaara/Naruto scene...those two are hard to write interacting I just want you to know.

Other than that, I've got nothing else to say, except songs. I heard a song I hadn't heard in forever as I finshed this chapter and for some reason I thought of Orochimaru. The song? 'Sympathy for the Devil'. Think I'm wrong? Then listen to it, you'll see.

But the entire reason I mention this is becuase I'm curious what songs you think belong to which character...and which pairings! So if ya leave a review and ya feel like it, tell me what you think.

Sincerely,  
Geor-sama


	4. Chapter 4

**Naruto:  
**_Brothers of Sand and Leaf  
_By Geor-sama  
-Chapter 4-  
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Kiba felt a wave of awe sweep through him as he stood by the others staring at the large post-town. As a Genin he had been on a few missions that had taken him to other villages, but he had never been to a city so huge. The feral boy darted his eyes everywhere, the scents of well prepared food and the sounds of the night life washed over him. Akamaru barked from on top of his head and he nodded slightly, smirking "I'm with you Akamaru; I didn't think it'd be this big."

"Meh," Naruto muttered, hands behind his head busy scanning the streets.

Ignoring the blond Kiba grinned, not feeling all that bad about leaving Shikamaru and Shino alone on the outskirts of the town. "I say we-"

He was cut off however by Baki who sounded bored "We're getting rooms...and then we all go take a bath. Just to be safe."

Kiba knew this was a wise, though boring, course of action; the stench from Shino's bugs had faded once they left the two ninjas on the edge of the town but they could convincible have gotten used to the smell.

Naruto grumbled something but a sharp elbow in the side from Sakura stifled that and Kiba rolled his eyes. Sometimes he really wondered how he had ever lost to that boy in preliminary matches of the Chunnin exam, other times he considered getting a bottle of sake -which he often 'borrowed' from his older sister Hana- so that they both could get blind-stinking-drunk together.

"Excuse me Baki-san, but where exactly are the hot springs?" Sakura asked and Kiba sighed, loosing interest in this entire conversation. At least until Naruto answered her, his voice distracted.

"On the other end of the village, it's mixed bathing." It took a moment for the blond to notice everyone's attention and he snorted hands behind his head once more "What? Ero-sennin was all excited about it when we were here."

"Naruto are you sure?" Kiba asked, his interest suddenly peeked and Naruto glanced at him curiously nodding and Kiba smiled almost lecherously, he truly did at times live up to the reputation of 'all men are perverted dogs' and this was one of them. "All those girls...Naruto your sure its mixed bathing?"

The blond nodded snorting, moving to cross his arms "Yea, when I had to go with Ero-sennin to find Granny Tsuande, we stopped here on the way back to Konoha."

"So you remember this place because of the bathing?" Sakura asked darkly and Naruto shook his head, hands held out in front of him.

"No Sakura-Chan. They had really good ramen...almost as good as Ichiraku's." He looked around, apparently searching for a familiar landmark.

Kiba however, still picturing bathing with Sakura and other females didn't care and put an arm around Naruto's shoulders grinning "Forget about the food! We're going directly to the hotsprings-urk!" whatever else he was going to say to convince the blond to lead him directly to the springs was cut off as something hit him in the back of his head. Hard. So hard in fact that his field of vision was engulfed in darkness.

When consciousness returned Kiba kept his eyes shut tightly. He felt as if he had been hit with a rock, correction a boulder. A very large boulder, thrown at him by a mountain troll, a very pissed off mountain troll. Distantly he heard voices and he made out a few words every so often, getting the dim gist that they were at the inn and that the Innkeeper was refusing to let them stay.

"So sorry, but no. I'm not going to let sand ninjas use my Inn." a male voice said firmly and Kiba slowly peeked out, noting the various people and how he had to look up at them all. Obviously he was laying sprawled on the ground of the Inn's entry; unfortunately he couldn't seem to get up just yet. Any attempt he made at moving was created by a flare up of his pain.

His pain however was driven from his mind at the sound of a pair of girlish squeals, followed by the sound of cups crashing to the ground. Kiba wished they two girls would shut up, whoever they were; he really didn't need to hear they're excited voices letting everybody in the Inn knowing that 'He was here! He was here!' -Whoever the hell _He_ was-.

"Errr, who's here?" Kiba heard Sakura ask and he attempted to sit up, managing it after a few minutes, finding that Akamaru was the only one watching him.

"What the hell is up with them?" he heard Temari mutter and he looked at the two girls, who looked just barely twelve.

"Maybe they're Gaara's groupies," Kankuro muttered from beside his sister, and then promptly shut it when Gaara gave him a side long glance.

"Ugh," Kiba muttered as he pushed himself up into a standing position, leaning against the wall. Wincing from the pain in his head he moved to Naruto, Akamaru on his heels "What hit me?"

The blond glanced away from the two girls, frowning "Sakura-Chan." Kiba would have felt surprise but his head hurt too much for that. Instead he turned toward the girls like everybody else and tried to understand why they were so excited. The man, obviously their father, finally managed to settle them down and turned his attention back to the group or more to the point at Naruto.

"You're the one that beat Hyuuga Neji uh?"

"Why?" Naruto managed brilliantly and Kiba winced from the stupidity.

"My daughters saw you at the exam. They've become a bit...annoying about you."

"Oh!" Naruto suddenly beamed his hands going behind his head obviously pleased with the attention. Kiba felt his eye twitch at the smugness on the boys face; just who the hell did Naruto think he was? He was only popular with two girls that were obviously just barely old enough to know they liked boys.

"I would be very honored if you and your friends would stay here in our humble inn." The man said a tone of reluctance in his voice and Kiba groaned. "My daughters will show you to the rooms, we don't have very many so you'll have to go three to a room. The girls can share one."

Kiba watched as Naruto was suddenly seized by his two young fan girls and dragged off his feet so that he fluttered behind them like a flag in the wind, with the others reluctantly following him. Shaking his head, which forced the pain in his head to throb, he sighed realizing that this was one of those times that he wondered just how he had managed to lose to that idiot.

Scooping up Akamaru he started after the already departed group, gently reminding himself to keep his hormones in check around Sakura. She hit twenty times harder than his mom or his sister, she actually hit harder than most male ninjas.

Akamaru barked softly and Kiba nodded "Good idea, this year I remember Sakura's birthday."

* * *

The room was small and rather meager compared to other Inn's, but it was well kept and clean. It also was warm which was a plus since the nights were growing steadily colder. On the clean, hardwood floors, rested two neatly made futons one of which rested under the only window in the entire room. 

Temari nodded to herself done with her inventory of the temporary sleeping quarters, and then moved toward the futon under the window, slipping her pack and fan off dropping them on the padded surface. Seconds later she collapsed beside them, luxuriating in the feeling of having a soft surface to rest on. Dimly she was aware of Sakura moving to the other bed, but Temari didn't care.

This was a perfect reward for her hard work -or at least she made Baki think it was hard work- Naruto was opening up to her and he was talking to her more easily during the day. She had made it a point to refrain from calling him 'whisker-boy' in front of the others, only because it felt somehow wrong to use that name around other people.

So yes, this futon was a nice reward for her efforts concerning Naruto and her mission.

Turning her head she watched as Sakura pulled out various medical scrolls before opening one, which meant that the light would be on for a while longer. Despite what Baki had told them, Temari and Sakura had both agreed to sleep tonight and bath early the next morning.

Sitting up the blond girl pushed her pack away and picked up her fan, retrieving the polishing rag she kept in her red sash and started to work.

Several minutes passed silently and then Sakura spoke up, her voice curious "Temari-san, Gaara...does he always smile like that?"

Temari hesitated, and then setting her fan to the side shook her head. "No and generally it's not a good thing to see him smiling, usually he's plotting a horrible death." There was a moment of silence and then Temari grinned, taking the chance to find out a bit more about her favorite ninja Naruto. "Hey, you know Naruto pretty well right?"

"I guess so," Sakura admitted, shifting slightly on her bed.

"You two aren't-?" Temari trailed off and held up her pinky, signifying lovers, holding her breath without realizing it. This was the acid test, to be one hundred percent sure.

"Me and Naruto?" Sakura blurted out laughing at the apparent absurdity of such a concept. Temari allowed herself to breath at that, then grew silently angry at how amused Sakura seemed at the concept of dating Naruto.

"What's so funny about dating him? He doesn't seem that bad to me." Temari scowled unconsciously "So he's a bit loud, it could be worse."

Gasping for air Sakura waved a hand and sat up, still laughing "It's not...oh god that was hilarious...it's not that there's anything wrong with dating him. But he's just too, iunno, he's just Naruto." The pink haired girl took a deep, shuddering breath to relax "We're friends. He does ask me out every so often, but that's more out of habit than anything."

"Oh," Temari responded, her scowl disappearing placated. "So where does he ask you out to?"

"To a ramen stand. It's his favorite food in the world; he'd live off it if he could." Sakura giggled behind her hand, which annoyed Temari. "I feel sorry for whoever his girlfriend is, they're going to be eating ramen all the time."

"Ramen's not so bad..." Temari muttered, and then shrugged pulling her fan back into her lap.

"You know, I think one thing Naruto has against him is he's not Sasuke-kun." Sakura suddenly said, drawing Temari's guarded gaze "I mean he's so open about his feelings and he's not very well behaved. No girl could possibly find that attractive, besides he's not even that good looking, cute in a goofy sort of way I suppose."

"Heh," Temari managed detachedly, eyes narrowing. "I think you're wrong."

"Oh? About what?" Sakura said curiously, staring at the other girl with guileless eyes.

"Whisker-boy, I think plenty of girls could find him attractive and there is something to be said about being open with how you feel for someone."

"Mhmm," Sakura managed smiling slightly. "Maybe your right, those girls when we came into the inn seemed to find him attractive...I wonder if he's out with one of them right now."

"Well if he is its fine. Not like I care, more power to him." Temari was pleased at the note of unconcern in her voice, but inside she was raging at the mere concept that he could be out with someone. She wasn't sure why she wasn't admitting that she was interested in the blond, other than she felt it would be wrong in some way. Still that didn't mean she liked listening to the prospects of Naruto out with other girls.

"Oh I agree, he deserves some happiness." Sakura nodded and Temari glanced at her searchingly. The pink girl didn't seem to notice as she turned her gaze back to her scroll, studying it intently before continuing their conversation though not in the same vein as before. "He's very loyal; he'd sacrifice his life for his important people. Plus he's bluntly honest about things and he's far too trusting."

Temari raised an eyebrow, wondering why Sakura was saying all of that. Was she trying to bait her into something? Well Temari wouldn't give the girl the satisfaction, but this was her chance to find out about Naruto and she wanted to take it.

"He likes to play pranks and he helps people out all the time. Even when he should know better he helps."

"What do you mean?" Temari found herself asking while silently fuming at her inability to keep her curiosity in check.

"Right before the chunin exams we had this mission and he got talked into helping out Konohamaru-kun with a 'mission'. Konohamaru was crushing on this girl and she was moving away, but he'd heard about this clover that could grant a wish and he told Naruto all about it." Sakura paused looking up once more "Of course he agreed to help the boy; the only problem was that the clover was in the same place where they used to hold the old chunin exams."

"So what happened?"

"The same thing that happens whenever Naruto gets involved in something." Sakura answered chuckling "He gets everyone in way over their heads and then pulls off miracles and saves everybody. He got Konohamaru-kun that clover and then got him back to the girl's house just before she had to leave."

Temari found herself smiling, unable to identify the feeling in her chest but guessing it had to be pride. Naruto was simple minded, but he was brave and he had helped someone despite the dangers he personally faced.

Brushing off a mission was grounds for being removed as a ninja and getting others into needlessly dangerous situations could get you stuck as a genin forever. Knowing his dreams of becoming Hokage, Temari viewed it as even braver than facing off with a fully transformed Gaara not that she would ever let him know that.

Sakura made a soft noise in her throat, a thoughtfully look in her eyes and Temari watched curiously as the girl resealed her scrolls before climbing to her feet.

"Where are you going?"

"To see if Naruto wants to go out..." Sakura smiled innocently. "I just realized how brave he was. I've been blind to what was right in front of me; you know...thanks for helping me realize what I had without knowing."

"B-but you just said you didn't like him like that." Temari protested without meaning to, her voice actually trembling and her eyes wide.

Sakura shrugged. "I changed my mind and besides it's not like he's got a girlfriend or anything. Well wish me luck, not that I'll need it."

"Wait!" Temari blurted without thinking, jumping to her feet as well. When Sakura turned around, the blond saw that wide knowing smile and the sand ninja sat back down, looking away. How could she have fallen into such an obvious trap? Hell why was she even bothering to deny what she was up to, it'd make things easier that was for sure. Still as long as she didn't admit to anything she'd be able to deny any accusation.

"I knew it!" Sakura exclaimed suddenly, her voice reverberating around the room and a finger pointing at the other girl dramatically "YOU LIKE HIM!"

"W-w-W-What!" Temari shouted back, blushing furiously as she snapped her head around to stare at the girl. All the gods in the heavens how observant was this girl? "I don't like him!" she shouted back, heatedly denying the obvious truth for no real reason other than she didn't want anyone to suspect.

"You like Nar-" Sakura started to shout when a kunai flashed past her head, taking a strand of her pink hair with it, before sinking into the door frame behind her with a heavy thunk. Glaring dangerously Temari picked up her fan and setting it to the side climbed under the blanket, not saying another word.

The blond however couldn't help but wonder just how obvious it was that she liked the blond and still wondering why she was denying her attraction to the boy. Well her false attraction -she was only seducing him because of the mission after all, even if he was brave...- If she were ordered to stop liking him she could do that.

Couldn't she?

Her conviction in that wasn't very strong, accepting that maybe her attraction to him wasn't entirely dependant on her orders. It had started out as a small feeling and was slowly growing stronger and she wasn't so sure that she wanted to stop it. Not even her cynical, mission orientated side fought the fact that she was getting close to him for a reason other than the mission.

Absently she heard Sakura turning off the light and climbing into her own futon, leaving Temari bathed in the pale moonlight that streamed in through the window. Silently cursing the pink haired girl she was sharing the room with, Temari closed her eyes intent of forcing herself to sleep.

Silence settled over the both of them for several moments before Sakura felt the need to say one last thing. "I think he likes you too."

Temari almost sat up and grilled the girl over that, but she remained silently and stretched out under her blankets. She was determined to fringe sleep and not give the other girl the satisfaction of knowing she was right about Temari's feelings. The blond however did take some comfort in the knowledge that she now knew more about Naruto; he was loyal, bluntly honest, had a mischievous streak, he helped people even when he shouldn't and he was braver and more determined than she had ever expected.

He was also and utterly alone.

That was something she'd learned late at night talking with him before going to bed. No matter how many friends he now had, how many people acknowledged him, he was still alone and it was obvious he didn't know why. Temari knew however -thanks to the annoying part of her that had declared that it wanted to be one of his important people- that he was lacking the most important thing in the world to someone like him.

Family, honest to goodness family, a girl that would devote herself to making him happy and to helping him. When Temari finally drifted off to sleep she was still thinking about Naruto and how she could '_comfort_' the blond.

* * *

Sogetsu eased himself into the bath slowly, his pale skin almost turning beat red in an instant, but he remained silent. Two more males, Baki who still wore his turban and Kankuro, soon joined him. Gaara would bath later as he always did and both Naruto and Kiba had insisted on using a different bath, so it was just the three of them. 

"This isn't so ba-" Kankuro started to say only to be cut off as an exuberant shout filled the air.

"Cannon Ball!"

Seconds later every one in the large bath area was drenched in a tiny typhoon as a ninja came splashing down. Surfacing seconds later among air bubbles, the dark headed boy with red stripes on his face turned toward the dressing room doorway and cupped his hands around his mouth "Top that!"

Sogetsu managed to look up, still coughing the water out his lungs from the first cannon ball to see Naruto appear in the doorway and hold his hands up grinning "Mass shadow clone technique!" Then with a humorous glint in his eyes, the fifteen clones surged forward at once, leaping into the air shouting the same word "Uzumaki Naruto Cannonball Barriage!"

Surfacing seconds later Sogetsu held onto the edge of the bath coughing, cursing as he heard the two Leaf Shinobi arguing in loud, though amused, voices.

"That's enough!" Baki shouted though it didn't deter the two young ninjas who climbed back out of the water. Jogging toward the dressing room both agreed not to use any ninjutsu.

"B-Baki-san-" Sogetsu managed before suddenly another typhoon washed over him, this time nearly drowning him. When his head broke free of the surface he coughed and sputtered, turning to watch as the two ninjas argued to the point of starting an impromptu wrestling match.

Not trusting himself to this Sogetsu clawed his way out of the bath and then climbed to his feet heading for the dressing room, Baki and Kankuro quickly joining him. Not that Naruto or Kiba noticed since they were struggling against each other to see who could kill the other by drowning. Minutes later, after having held his head under water for a count of five, Kiba allowed Naruto to surface and started laughing.

"Oi! Kiba that coulda killed me!" Naruto shouted, shaking his fist while the dog ninja continued to laugh. "Why you!" Then with a splash, he tackled Kiba, forcing the boy underwater with a plume of water. They're fight continued for another few minutes before separating, declaring the fight a draw for the moment, and went to opposite ends of the bath to settle down for a moment.

Floating in what was left of the water the two-leaf ninjas remained silent, Naruto grinning and Kiba dozing. Their brief respite was disrupted by the soft knocking on the now closed dressing room door, followed by the door sliding open.

"Do you think he's got a, a, a-" the words died on the the raven haired girls lips, her blue eyes going wide in surprise. Her equally dark haired sister blushed, her green eyes widening in equal surprise.

Naruto blinked rapidly as the girls stared at him. A beat of silence and then Naruto found his voice "K-Kiba...girls..."

Cracking an eye, the other ninja snorted, "Didn't anyone ever teach you not to tease a dog?"

Shaking his head Naruto pointed and Kiba turned his head, sitting up quickly upon seeing the two girls from the Inn.

"W-we're sorry..." The one on the right, with blue eyes, stammered her face a nice shade of red that the other sister was attempting to emulate perfectly. "We thought...that is...this place...bare chest..."

"I told you I was popular!" Naruto suddenly bragged prompting Kiba to round on him.

"Idiot! You're only popular with two girls!"

"So? How many girls have you got sneaking in to see you take a bath?" Naruto retorted and Kiba actually managed a growl.

"You pervert! They're just barely old enough to know they like boys!"

"You're wrong!" The green eyed girl shouted drawing both boys attention back to the blushing girls.

"That's right; we don't like Naruto-kun." The other one added seriously, "We love him." Both Naruto and Kiba stood there for a moment, listening to the dripping water and nighttime noises found in a bathhouse at night.

"Y-you love him?" Kiba finally managed and the two girls nodded in unison.

"Yes. More than anything!" One said eagerly, hands clasped in front of her chest "We're even willing to share him we love him so much!"

"Huh?"

"We're going to let you marry both of us Naruto-kun." The on the right said matter-of-factly.

"M-marry-" Naruto stammered.

"Both of you?" Kiba added weakly and when the girls nodded both ninja boys stood rock still absorbing that information.

"Oh Naruto-kun, ever since we saw your match we were just so in awe of your talent. You're so brave and strong...and we can't wait to have your children."

"Er..." Kiba said, glancing at Naruto who blinked in confusion in response.

"What she means is," the other said delicately, reaching for the knot in her towel "We want to have your children right now."

"Lots of children!"

"Five!"

"As many as you want!"

"Uh...well I suppose since you offered how can I-WHAT's THAT!" Naruto dramtically pointed to the far corner and when both girls looked the blond and Kiba took off like bullets, stopping just long enough to grab their clothes, before tearing out into the street running dripping wet and nearly naked.

Behind them, echoing into the night was the twin voices of two twelve year old girls."WAAAAH! NARUTO-KUN! COME BACK! WE JUST WANT TO MARRY YOU AND HAVE LOTS OF CHILDREN!"

* * *

Sakura peeled the short robe off her body slipping into the hot bath, sighing softly as it enveloped her. Oh, that was a heavenly feeling. With a chill in the air, any escape from it she considered paradise. 

Lazing in the hot water, with stream drifting lazily through the air she closed her eyes letting her mind wander. She remembered the look on Temari's face earlier; the blond had apparently gotten up extremely early to take her bath and was now off on a 'much more important matter'.

Sakura took that to meant 'I'm going to go see if I can't spend time with Naruto', which in turn proved to her that she was right and Temari really did like the boy.

The pink haired girl had to give the sand ninja her dues; using the thirty-minute delay in departure to spend time alone with Naruto was brilliant. With any luck Naruto wouldn't be as dense as he had been in the past, but Sakura was almost positive that he liked Temari the sameway. She hoped he did because she wasn't going to get involved in his love life again after this, whether it worked out or not.

Still, Naruto was rather transparent in his interest in Temari and the other girl wasn't very good at hiding her own feelings. Sakura admitted that while she had an altruistic reason for getting involved -Providing Naruto somebody to comfort him when Sakura betrayed him- she also had several more selfish reasons.

First this would be the end of him asking her out, Naruto was much too loyal to try and 'cheat' on any girl he was dating. Second was the fact that she was trying to buy herself peace of mind and third was the fact that this would ensure her freedom from him.

It was these selfish desires that she felt like toasting and if she had been in Konoha near Tsuande-sama's office, she'd have procured a nearly empty bottle of sake. Sakura couldn't stand the taste of the rice wine, but on the rare occasions where Sakura had something to celebrate; the pink haired girl drank whatever the Hokage left out on her desk.

Groaning she allowed her head to slip completely under the surface of the hot water, where she stayed for several long minutes before surfacing taking deep breaths and pink hair plastered back against her head and sides of her face. She listened absently to the soothing sound of dripping water and her own breathing; it was enough to make her sleepy all over again.

Laying her head back, she closed her eyes, her dozing mind drifting randomly from thought to thought with no real objective in mind. A few moments of sleep would be all she needed, a decent early morning nap much like the type Naruto always insisted were essential back in the academy.

She wasn't sure how long she slept but Sakura could remember drifting off and when she woke up it was if she had been thinking the entire time about her suspicions about Shino and Shikamaru. Sakura had a theory that the stench came from a genjutsu. This would explain the wide range of reactions to the smell.

Sakura had been least effected, almost as if it was nothing more than a trip to the dump. The ninjas from the Sand were affected even more strongly, though with Gaara it had been hard to tell. The ones most affected had been Kiba, Akamaru and Naruto who each had reacted approaching a moment of retching.

This leant weight to her genjutsu theory, her medical training allowed her to filter outside influences to an extent, which meant she was less influenced than the others were. Kiba and Naruto had no such abilities and their senses were almost on a constant hyperactive drive, while Akamaru's never quit.

It was only a theory, one that she had been working on since yesterday, but still only a theory. If it was accurate it meant A) she could dispel it once she knew for sure what type of genjutsu it was related to and B) it wouldn't affect them as long as the two pretenders didn't know they were around.

It still left her with the problem of how to prove it. Well not so much a problem about how to prove the theory, just spying would handle that, the real problem was who to trust not to just attack on such a mission. Unfortunately, since the two false leaf ninjas had to be traveling right now it meant she had only one useful choice. Kiba and Akamaru.

Kiba would be just as hotheaded as Naruto, but he might be a tad more willing to let her play this how she wanted. As if the decision came without her conscious thought, she climbed out of the bath, inhaling sharply as the cool air struck the warm water that ran down her body.

Shivering slightly she picked up her discarded short bathrobe and slipped it on, heading back for the drier dressing room.

Where would the feral ninja be this time of day?

* * *

"Ok Whisker-boy, you've been to this town before, where's the ramen stand?" Temari asked once more, glancing at him as he stared at the various booths in the street. 

Naruto really wished she wouldn't be so pushy about this, he had told her earlier he didn't know and yet she kept asking him every five minutes. Or at least it seemed like every five minutes, to be honest Naruto didn't keep track of time -Such as days of the week or years-.

Forcing a grin into place he put his hands behind his head looking at her with his eyes almost closed "To tell you the truth Temari-Chan, I don't remember much about this place." Opening his eyes he studied her closely, much of his annoyance at her pushiness fading. He just couldn't be annoyed with her or any girl for that matter, which was something else about him that he didn't understand.

"I guess we'll have to explore then." Temari muttered as she had two streets over.

Naruto took the lead, or at least he started walking first and she fell into step beside him. Because she was taller Temari had to take shorter steps, but she didn't seem to mind and Naruto said nothing of this. He was far to busy trying to figure out what to say or do, alone with Temari had not been his plan for the day and to be honest he was a little afraid of her. He wasn't entirely sure why either, he just knew that he was afraid of her.

"So..." Temari said finally, dragging out the syllables prompting Naruto to glance at her curiously "What do you think the others are going to say about this?"

The loud ninja thought about that for a moment, wondering what exactly everybody would say about this -whatever '_this_' meant- but then realized the truth he really didn't know. "I have no clue!" Naruto grinned then noticed a slightly odd look in her eye. Damn it, he thought to himself, what'd I say wrong? He racked his brain and was unable to come up with something. Then he noticed that she was wearing her hair down.

Why? He thought suddenly, did it mean something or was she just too tired to bother with putting it up? It was the first time she had ever worn it down during the day. At night when he came back from training she had her hair down -Sometimes- he amended.

He cursed Iruka-sensei for not teaching them about girls in the academy, then sighed inwardly trying to understand this situation. Why was she looking more and more annoyed with each passing second? Desperately he racked his brain for some clue about what he should say or do, if he wasn't quick enough she might just hit him and decide not the buy lunch for him. With his ramen at stake, Naruto fell back on the only source of information that he had left.

Ero-sennin.

What would that pervert do? Put a hand on her rear? Naruto was sure she'd kill him for attempting that. He could try to hold her hand but that would give her the wrong idea and he'd get beaten to a bloody pulp. He could whisper something in her ear, but that usually didn't work for Ero-sennin so he wouldn't risk that. Wait until Temari was bathing and peek on her? The only part of him that didn't shoot that idea down was the part that controlled everything below his waist -which thankfully didn't control the rest of him, thus he was allowed to live a few minutes longer-.

What else was there that he had ever gathered from his sometimes teacher? That when with a girl you had to be clean, no problem since Naruto had bathed last night with the others. Next was to make sure you had money, which wasn't a problem since Naruto's froggy wallet was stuffed to over flowing. That left only complimenting her on something, especially if it was something you said looked good on her...

Then as if some light bulb flickered to life in his mind -or to be more accurate the malnurished mouse (which represented his intelligence) running on a rusted wheel (which represented his ability to think) went into over drive and earned itself a piece of cheese (I.e. He understood what to say now!)-

"Temari-Chan!" he blurted out, looking at her eyes wide and excited. Unfortunately, he found her green eyes already focused on him and for some reason this robbed him of all speech. Shaking his head, he smiled widely, hands behind his head as he rushed through what he meant to say "Yourhairlooksniceimeangood…"

The Sand ninja smirked at what he said, and then almost as if she wasn't aware of it she brushed a strand behind her ear looking pleased at his noticing her hair. Naruto almost expected a soft word of thanks out of the girl; unfortunately, she noticed something over his shoulder and grabbed his hand "There it is."

Naruto was pulled off balance, spinning around to see the ramen stand. Yet he wasn't thinking that much about food -a first for him- but rather the way her hand felt. It was rough from years in the desert, but it was warm and it felt wonderful to him. Why, he didn't have a clue, but he knew he didn't want her to let go of his hand. Unfortunately, she did let go of his hand once they had both entered the shop and set down at the counter.

The thin, balding man behind the counter beamed at the two then once they were settled in and he was sure they weren't about to leave, he gave them a customary greeting "Welcome to Hagiwara no Ramen."

"Yea, yea..." Temari said lazily before glancing at Naruto, who didn't look entirely happy about her dismissive tone. "The two biggest bowls of pork Ramen you have." she said much to Naruto and the shop owners surprise.

"Of course!"

Naruto smiled, puzzling over that change he was blind-sided by the man continuing "Son you have a wonderful girlfriend!" Naruto nearly fell out of his chair in surprise; he hadn't been prepared for that.

"S-she's not..." he found himself stammering without thinking then he saw her raised eyebrow. That stopped him cold, his brain still trying to get back on its proper footing. The man was gazing at him curiously and Naruto could only shift uncomfortably under the scrutiny of the man. Him and his big mouth!

"Well, is she or isn't she?" The bald man asked curiously "A beautiful young girl like this buying you lunch, she has to be!"

"Er..." Naruto glanced at her once more, realizing what sort of situation he was in now. If he denied it he might hurt Temari's feelings because she'd think he didn't think she was beautiful enough -and she was only just now getting sociable with him- If he confirmed it then he would upset her and she'd hit him before storming off in a huff.

When did being friends with girls get so freaking complicated? "S-she...that is...umm...this is our...first date!" Naruto was pleased with this for a moment, until he realized what he had just blurted out. Ignoring the laughing man who was turning to fix their food, he became very interested in the chopsticks on the counter.

He could feel Temari's heavy gaze on him and he was terrified, he hadn't meant to blurt that out. It had sounded good in his head, but obviously she didn't approve. He didn't even have the energy nor will to try and joke his way out of this situation, maybe if he was quiet she'd forget he ever said it. Nevertheless, the way she was staring at him he didn't think she would forget what he said.

"Naruto-kun," she said very silkily and he gulped looking at her. She was going to slap him out of the chair he could feel it.

"Y-yes?"

"Dates take more than dinner..." she raised an eyebrow, a sly smirk on her face "What else do you have planned for us?" Naruto almost cried, feeling his wallet sing its sweet farewell to all of its money. It was his own fault, he should have thought of something else to blurt out.

"I-it's a surprise Temari-Chan."

"Ohhhh," she leaned forward slightly, so their noses lightly touched "Better make it good Whisker-boy, I'm a hard woman to please." Naruto gulped again, almost getting lost in her eyes for a moment. Smiling she leaned back and turned picking up her own chopsticks.

Naruto cursed Iruka-sensei once more and wondered why he liked staring into her eyes.

* * *

Sakura had guessed that Kiba would most likely be out eating right now, but so far had found no trace of him. She'd spotted Naruto and Temari but choose to leave the two alone, the longer Naruto was out from under foot the better. She did however take comfort in the fact that Kiba and Naruto weren't hanging out, separately they were loud and a tad obnoxious so them together was not a pleasant situation. 

Shaking her head she threaded her way through the crowded streets, she was used to Konoha where she knew most everybody by sight if not name. This village was just too massive and she understood perfectly how Naruto could forget where a single stand was. However, she did find it suspicious that he managed to remember not only where the bath was but also that it was mixed bathing. He was too much like Kakashi-sensei and Jiraiya-sama for his own good she decided nodding knowingly.

Still, despite being an annoying pervert Sakura was almost going to miss his attempts to ask her out. Inner Sakura was quick to roar out in her metaphysical voice _'ALMOST!' _

She spent another fruitless twenty minutes searching the village for Kiba, almost ready to go by herself. Yes, this mission would be best if two people went but she was running short on time. The half hour that Baki had given them to roam was long past; it was actually approaching the three-hour mark. Maybe she should just go to the prearranged meeting spot and tell him her theory. She knew better than that though, a theory was no good in a real fight so she had to be certain.

The only way to be certain was to go check and...it all just went around forever in the circle. Unfortunately, none of it helped her find Kiba and thus Sakura convinced herself to leave on her own. It was of course following making such a decision that she heard the familiar voice of Kiba over head.

"Bastard!"

Stumbling in surprise Sakura turned looking up at the brown haired boy who was seated on the topmost step leading to the shop street. Akamaru barked loudly, in apparent agreement and Sakura couldn't help but wonder why. Who had upset the two of them; maybe it was just a random outburst. Either way Sakura leaped up onto the steps beside him just as he leaped to his feet and start off in an angry march.

On instinct alone her hand shot out, grabbing him by the back of his jacket jerking him off his feet. He flailed his arms for a moment then landed heavily on his ass with a yelp. "What are you yelling about?" Sakura asked and when he glared up at her, she raised an eyebrow.

The feral ninja looked away, crossing his arms in silence. It took only a split second before it crystallized for the pink haired ninja. The bastard in question was Naruto. "It wasn't his fault Kiba-san; she did it on her own to prove she'd changed."

"What the hell would you know?" Kiba shouted back, climbing angrily to his feet. "You didn't even know her! Don't pretend to care or understand her."

"Naruto told me that was what she wanted," Sakura, said softly, her tone and gaze softening in sympathy. Kiba of course was right to an extent, she hadn't known her that well, but Naruto had. Maybe it wasn't right to share that he had talked to her about the girl, but Kiba didn't need to blame Naruto. It wasn't his fault what happened. It was nobodies fault.

"Naruto can go jump off a bridge!" Kiba suddenly shouted, finger jabbing into her face and she finally caught the faint scent of sake. She tried to restrain her temper, reminding herself that Kiba had no idea that Naruto accepted the blame. That he was willing to bear the weight of what his example had done.

"It's his fault! All his damn fault and if he wasn't such a spineless, promise-breaking cowar-"

It was those words that sealed Kiba's fate. Indeed, he never even got to finish his sentence. Sakura would have let the boy rant until he reached an end; she would have let him wave a finger in her face and curse all he wanted...but to call Naruto, her last trustworthy friend, a spineless promise-breaking coward -espically since the only promise he had ever broken wasbecuase he had been on the verge of deathand even then he tried to keep it the instant he recovered!- that was something she'd never stand for.

The only one that had time to react to the punch directed at his face was Akamaru who leaped nimbly off the boys head seconds before the punch arrived. There was a sickening crunching noise as knuckles smashed against cartilage, a splattering of blood filled the air and suddenly Kiba's eyes crossed as he stumbled drunkenly backwards before twisting to fall off the side of the stairs and land in a pile of trash.

There was a moment of silence, she hadn't thought she'd hit him that hard. Maybe hard enough for a bloody nose, but not the level of violence she'd just witnessed. Walking over with Akamaru at her side she peered at the unconscious boy, then sighed rubbing the bridge of her nose knowing she'd have to go heal him before taking off. "I really got to remember that not everybody is as hard headed as Naruto."

Akamaru merely whined at her feet, staring down at his unconscious master.

* * *

Naruto was trying. He was really trying. Temari kept repeating that to herself, watching as he paid the owner of the latest booth for a ring toss. To be fair he'd been forced to be spontaneous and anything she showed the slightest interest in he had dragged them too and let them try. 

Goldfish catching? Done it. Fortunate telling? Done it. Twice. Temari was to become a beloved wife and Naruto a powerful ninja. Dancing? Done that too. Watch one of the most kami awful plays because she had mentioned that she thought it looked funny? Done that as well.

Naruto was treating Temari to anything that her heart desired. He was treating her like a princess in some fairytale and she finally understood why all those girls loved to have boyfriends rushing around spending money on them. Temari did love quiet moments and privacy, she was quiet happy to relax at home, but she also found that she enjoyed being pampered as well. Actually, the proper word for what Naruto was doing would be Spoiling.

She grinned watching as he flung the rings almost carelessly at the targets, knowing it didn't matter because you always won whatever it was you wanted. It was so obvious that he really didn't have a clue what a date was suppose to be like, that he was scrambling like a hyper squirrel to come up with things for them to do.

Naruto was immature, that much was true, and Temari was honest about that. However, he wasn't quite as immature as he could have been and he was maturing, but even his immaturity had a charm to it. Like a moth to a flame it kept her hovering nearby, waiting to get burned and unable to move away. She was also quickly noticing one other thing, the attraction she felt for him was less and less mission grounded and more real.

That first night she'd been trying to get close to him because of her mission, and the several nights that had followed only that with each passing night she thought less of mission and more about if Naruto would be alright, if he would smile at her.

She was actually beginning to worry about what he thought about her, because she was starting too really care for him.

She remembered her early infatuation with Shikamaru, how that felt, and this was similar but different. Really different. This feeling had her wanting more and more to be not just an important person to him but the MOST important.

"Winner!" The booth owner shouted and Naruto considered everything behind the counter.

"Naruto-kun...how about that necklace?" Temari suggested almost at once, nodding at a rather nice looking pendant with the kanji for family. The blond glanced at her curiously, and then back at the pendant nodding to the man.

The owner smiled and turned picking up instead a small, stuffed fox much to the chagrin of Naruto. "WHAT! Temari-Chan wants the necklace!"

"Tsk!" The owner said, shaking his head "You didn't play the right level..."

"Why you!" Naruto glared.

"I'll make you deal...just for you and your girlfriend." The owner grinned widely "You play one more game, sink all five rings on the pole I pick and I'll give you the necklace."

"Naruto-kun lets just-" Temari said before Naruto slammed the now nearly empty frog wallet on the counter picking up five nearby rings.

"Here!" Naruto's voice took on a slightly sharp edge as the grinning man pointed at a pole in the far back and way out of range for most people. Naruto however merely nodded curtly and began hurling the rings with what seemed like an expert precision. When the last one had settled to the bottom of the pole, Naruto looked at the now fuming man triumphantly.

"Impossible!" The bald man shouted glaring at the short blond who was now grinning.

"Not for me."

"Nobody could make all five like that! Not even a ninja!" The bald headed man shouted and Temari saw the way Narutos eye twitched. Oh this wouldn't be pleasent, whenever Gaara's eye twitched people died.

"Give me another five and I'll put them on there!" Naruto shouted heatedly before hopping back over the counter turning to glare at the bald man.

"Deal!" The man shouted, handing over another five and pointing at an entirely different pole that was almost completely hidden from view.

"Fine!" Was the loud ninja's only response as he prepare for the task at hand. Temari blinked in surprise at Naruto's actions, she hadn't expected him to be so intent on winning her that pendant. She was perfectly happy with the stuffed fox and besides it was just a cheap piece of medal they could have gotten just down the street if they looked.

Naruto however began throwing, bouncing the first one off the post of the stand and got a nearly perfect landing. The second he threw at a nearby bottle of water, where it richoceted sharply before coming to a landing on the pole. The third one had Temari almost laughing as it bounced off the bald mans head up to strike another stuffed fox before dropping noislessly on the target. The fourth Naruto lifted his leg and tossed it underneath, so that it sailed over the target bounced off the back wall and then landed neatly on top of the other three.

Temari blinked in rapid succesion, a sort of stupidfied surprise filling her mind. When had Naruto learned how to throw this great? True he was powerful and he could do interesting things with weapons, but this was a skill that most ninjas never achived. Maybe he had been training with that TenTen girl...but still...this was utterly amazing.

"Are you ready baldie?" Naruto taunted the silently fuming gamer, who merely crossed his arms and glared darkly at the blond. Naruto still smiling, took careful aim for once, even going so far as to wet his finger and test the direction of the wind.

Then, no longer smiling, he turned his head away and without looking tossed the ring landing it perfectly on target.

There was a moment of silence in which both Temari and the bald man stared at the target then all eyes were pulled back to Nartuo as he flashed a peace sign grinning "I'm not just any ninja! I'm the future Hokage and not just any Hokage but the greatest ever and nobody cheats me!"

Temari felt pride swelling up inside her, begining to believe that he really was going to be Hokage someday. Her Naruto as the Hokage, it was a wonderful dream. Then she stopped herself cold, when had she started to think like that? Maybe she did like him, but that was far to personal a claim.

"Temari-Chan!" Naruto cried happily as he spun around, holding the necklace out for her.

"Thanks Whisker-boy," Temari smiled taking it from him then shooting the bald man a smug look while wondering why hed had been so intent on getting this for her. Just because she'd wanted it, or because he had been denied or was there something more to it. She didn't know and she couldn't ask him because to be honest she didn't want to know.

Considering the short chain, she slipped it onto her wrist in a makeshift charm looking at him with a surprisingly soft smile. Naruto smiled back, hands behind his head and then turned starting off, with Temari at his side. She felt a rush that he had been so intent on getting her the necklace. She'd never had a guy so determined to get her something that she wanted and Naruto had went broke to do it.

He might have even attacked the man to get it for her -well maybe not attack him but he'd have raised a good fuse over it-, which forced Temari to consider the fact that maybe Sakura really was telling the truth about him liking her. Somewhere she felt a small voice at the back of her mind cheering at the prospect and for once, the rest of her mind didn't say a word about missions or argue.

It seemed that for the moment she was letting herself have this precious moment untainted, right now she was allowing herself to be a girl on a date being spoiled. She almost laughed but instead kissed his cheek leaving him standing there as she wandered through the crowd, heading toward where the others would be waiting for Baki.

Dating was fun!

* * *

Pain. That was the first thing he felt, it radiated out from his nose sinking its talons into every inch of his head. The second thing he felt was water falling on his eyelids and the third thing was a wet nose nudging his cheek. Groaning the wild looking ninja struggled is way back to complete conciousness, wondering why he seemed to keep winding up like this. 

Sitting up he absently petted the excited looking white dog at his side, trying to remember the last few minutes before he woke up. He remembered getting the sake from an older man and he remembered cursing Naruto...then Sakura had shown up and he'd said something he couldn't remember, and now he was waking up in rain. Correction it was a drizzle, not that this improved his outlook as he picked his way out of the trash and back to his feet.

Shaking his head like a dog having its nose smacked by a rolled up newspaper he shambled toward the stairs, knowing he was late for rejoining the rest of the team. He did wonder however why he had been left in the trash, grumbling he relied on Akamaru to guide him to the others. Halfway there the drizzle stopped and he sighed, hands shoved deep into his jackets pockets.

At least he could dry out a bit before he met up either everybody, though he could already hear Naruto's loud insults concerning him smelling like a wet dog. Could be worse, he reassured himself, he could still be under the sakes influence. That was something he wished to avoid as much as he could, espically around Naruto.

Secrets could be shared like that, Secerts that didn't need to be shared.

Staring down at his feet as he walked along the rain swept road, he snorted. Best to stop thinking about it and try to remember what exactly happened to him. He couldn't for the life of him remember anything other than a sudden blossoming of pain, maybe he had tripped busted his nose and fell into the trash. He didn't really believe that but he had to have something to set his mind at ease about the missing section of his memory.

Akamaru barked suddenly and he looked up spotting the team just on the otherside of the gates. There was Baki and Sogetsu, Kankuro was standing nearby his dolls strapped to his back and there was his exteremly creepy brother."You're five hours late." Baki grumbled but Kiba waved him off, wondering where Sakura and that blond girl that had been flirting with Naruto was.

Speaking of which where was that annoying brat anyway?

Seconds later Sakura appeared at the head of a set of stairs, her gaze thoughtful. "Hey Sakura!" The pink haired girl blinked looking up at him scowling slightly. What had he done to earn that? Maybe he'd upset her like yesterday when they had first arrived. She had to have hit him, and that pretty much explained everything for him.

Akamaru barked his suggestion and Kiba nodded in agreement, watching the girl stalk toward him. Yeah, he was definately going to have to apologize. "Sakrua, I'm sorry about-" he trailed off however as she ignored him and continued on her way to Baki.

What the hell had that been about? Frowning he kicked at the ground, looking up at the dog seated ontop of his head. Both were in silent agreement, even IF he had insulted her he didn't deserve to be completely ignored. Still he watched the way Baki's eyes never left Sakuras mouth and he began to wonder what exactly she was saying.

Snorting in annoyance he turned away, crossing his arms just in time to see Temari and Naruto walking toward him side by side. Eyebrows knitting together the dog ninja tried to puzzle out why both seemed so...odd. They weren't coming back...FROM A DATE!

"Naurto!" Sakura bellowed stalking over to the two, glaring at them "What part of thirty minutes didn't you understand! It takes five hours for ramen?"

"B-but I was so hungry Sakura-chan!" Naurto almost whined much to Kiba annoyance.

"Idiot! You can close Ichiraku's in under an hour." Sakura said darkly, crossing her arms "I know, I've been with you when you've done it."

"Hey! This is a big town and you know how much I like Ramen," Naruto responded huffily before grinning as he opened his mouth to belch in her face. This, if nothing else, made Kiba laugh. Leave it to Naruto to disgust both one of his best friends and his date. He laughed even harder when Sakura drove her fist into the top of Narutos head, unfourtantely he was denied full satisfaction since Naruto merely wince and rubbed at his injured head.

Now that was unfair, if he had been hit by Sakura he'd have been laid out for another five hours. Kiba grumbled to himself watching as Temari came to the boys rescue.

"Back off pinky, I made him show me around town."

"What'd you call me!" Sakura screeched, shooting daggers at the other girl.

"Hard of hearing Pinky?" Temari taunted, reaching up to brush a strand of her blond hair behind her ear. Kiba saw it at the same time that Sakura did, Temari was sporting a new piece of jewlery. The pink haired girl studied it for only a second then gazed critically at the taller blond.

"Ugh!"

Then with that Sakura turned and stomped away. Somehow though Kiba got the impression that Sakura wasn't really all that upset about about what she had seen. Not that he had a chance to reflect on that since Baki -berating them all for the delays- ordered them to start marching. Trudging his way to the front of the line Kiba frowned, glancing up at Akamaru who merely barked before licking his forehead.

* * *

AN: 

Not much to say really, I tried my best this chapter. I hope you get some enjoyment and just for you fluff lovers out there, I inculded a DATE! I hope ya all enjoy and that you let me know what ya think if ya feel like it.

Also, Kiba got a little bit of a bashin this chapter...sorry to Kiba fans but I just couldn't resist. Please forgive me. Speical thanks goes to my beta reader for helpful suggestions and reminding me that I'm not always the craziest person in the room...just the most vocal.

Sincerely,  
Geor-sama


	5. Chapter 5

**Naruto:  
**_Brothers of Sand and Leaf  
_By Geor-sama  
-Chapter 5-  
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The sun sat low on the horizon of the wide river, creating the illusion that it was attempting to sink directly into the water. With the early songs of insects drifting through the indigo-colored sky and breath hanging in the air, it was as if the world was magical beyond words.

At least it was to Sakura who was trudging behind the annoying Sogetsu, who was slowly getting on her nerves. Then again so was Baki who was almost obsessive about this mission, he had forced them to swing around three more post towns for the last two weeks and now they were at a massive river with no way to cross.

Staring at the still surface and the distant shore she felt a form of depression setting in. How where they going to cross this and reach Sasuke?

"Well, I guess we'll have to camp here for tonight." Baki said dissatisfaction in his tone.

"WHAT!" Naruto shouted making Sakura feel a little better, at least she wasn't alone in her new found displeasure and Naruto it seemed was going to be more vocal about things.

"We're camping here tonight."

"What!" Naruto exclaimed once more "Come on! We can just walk across or something."

Baki snorted, glowering down at the blond "I'm in charge and I say we camp for the night." when Naruto opened his mouth to continue his argument Baki thrust a finger in his face "I. Am. In. Charge."

Sakura covered her mouth to keep from giggling at the way Naruto opened and closed his mouth like a fish out of water, his features clouding in anger. She could count on one finger the number of times that telling him no had a positive effect on him.

"Come on!" Naruto almost whined and Sakura smiled, knowing where this was going.

"**No!**"

"Besides you're only a Genin you can't walk across." Sogetsu added and Sakura saw the way Naruto's eye-twitched.

At that she grinned a little more, watching Naruto who had his arms crossed and eyes in that classic closed position. It was obvious that he didn't see why nobody else could walk on water like he could.

"Oh come on, it's not like it's really that hard. Watch!" Naruto said before darting around the large man and out onto the surface of the river. Turning he grinned smugly at them, arms still crossed "See?"

Sakura shook her head, sighing as she slipped her pack off her shoulders. Amusing though it was to watch Naruto do this, it was clear that the others would stay on this side of the river for now.

"Get back here!" Baki shouted in anger as Naruto began to tap his foot in annoyance. This seemed to infuriate the man who started to take a step onto the water in an attempt to retrieve the boy.

Sakura however beat him too it. Scowling as she strode across the water she almost missed the look of surprise on his face, but Inner Sakura laughed loudly hands on her hips _"THAT'S RIGHT! I CAN DO IT TO!" _In truth this was actually only her first 'hands-on' experience with this technique, Tsuande had explained the basics once. Sakura was rather pleased at how well it was working. Coming to a stop in front of him she crossed her arms "Surprise."

He stammered for a moment then pointed a finger at her, eyes wide "SAKURA-CHAN!"

"Yes?"

"You're walking on water!" Naruto seemed lost and Sakura rolled her eyes.

"You think you're the only one allowed to learn this stuff? Tsuande taught me things other than healing and her strength you know."

Naruto however narrowed his eyes studying her closely, it was actually rather disturbing. Well, she'd cut that short. Slapping him upside the head she put a stop to any pranks he might be plotting "Idiot! We're supposed to be a team now. You don't argue with our team leader."

Naruto rubbed the side of his head, sort of frowning "B-but Sakura-Chan, if-"

She raised a fist under his nose, shaking it threateningly. Seeing his look of mild panic she nodded decisively "Good. Now come on, we're going back."

"But-"

"Don't make me drag you back by your ears." Sakura threatened, half hoping he would make her do just that. Naruto however sighed and putting his hands behind his head, squinted at her. "What?"

He lowered his voice, sounding slightly disgruntled "You're just like Granny Tsuande."

Sakura felt her eye twitch, not that Naruto seemed to notice "What do you mean just like her?"

He blinked slightly "Geez, you even sound like her now."

"Naruto..." Sakura growled warningly and the boy blinked leaning in close to stare at her closely.

"Hey! Granny Tsunade's been teaching you her stuff right? Has she taught you that genjutsu yet?" He tilted his head "Huh Sakur-urk!"

Seconds later he bounced off the water, coming to a stop a few feet away. Blinking he sat up, holding his nose where she had just punched him. "Sakura-Chan...I did-"

Sakura suddenly charged and Naruto yelling, scrambled to his feet and took off on a dead run in the opposite direction. The chase lasted until the sun finally set and Naruto tripped, skidding along the ground giving Sakura the chance to catch up to him.

The beating he received left him looking a little better than mashed potatoes.

Nodding satisfied that she had revenged herself of the implied insult about her needing THAT genjutsu Sakura grabbed his leg and dragged him back to the camp. Behind her, Naruto disappeared beneath the surface with a trail of air bubbles. Depositing him at the feet of Kiba and the others, she stepped away as he began to cough up the water he'd swollowed. Frowning Sakura paused and move back driving her foot into his stomach. HARD.

Nodding satisfied with the water becoming a fountain she turned away and went back to her pack.

* * *

Naruto rubbed his stomach absently, crouched down near the tent he was sharing with Kiba -the stench surrounding Shino and Shikamaru might have lessened enough for travel, but sharing a tent with them was still out- his pack in hand. Frowning he watched the smoke from the fire as it drifted upwards obscure the view of the fat and ghostly white moon. 

Snorting he turned back to his pack, shifting through the contents in search of his dinner. Unfortunately it didn't seem that he had anything left, but he kept up his near silent chant for the heavenly meal that was ramen. Feeling his stomach rumbling he upended the pack, dumping all of its contents out on the ground. Weapons, medicine...he scanned everything then sat down heavily. He couldn't have run out already, he had packed more than enough!

"Oh no, no." he groaned in despair, staring blankly at the tightly bound pack of spare kunai in front of him. How could he have run out of food already? It was impossible, sure he ate a lot, but this was...he stopped short remembering that he had been sharing some of his ramen with Temari for the last few days.

Grumbling he shoved everything haphazardly back into his pack, before tossing it aside to cradle his head in his hands. A curse on hunger! Well it didn't matter, he'd just have to deal with this hunger he wasn't about to ask anybody else for food. Damn it, he was so stupid.

Sighing in frustration he closed his eyes, opening them a few seconds later to stare at the empty ground. Well, he couldn't spend the whole night here whining over his lack of food, he had training to do...but oh he was so hungry. Maybe he could steal some from one of the others, but that would be wrong, but he was hungry.

Naruto stood; arms crossed trying to decide which course he should take; stealing the food or going off to train. Scowling he stared down at his feet, it was so tempting but a Hokage shouldn't steal other peoples food. "I'll just hunt. Yea and it'll be great training!" That decided he turned and slipped out of the camp and into the canopy of trees.

What kind of animal would he be able to find at night? Not a rabbit, maybe a fish, but he doubted that. Oh well, he would still try. Listening to the noise of the forest he settled in on the branch of the tree, eyes narrowing. What could he find? Looking around he strained in the dark to see his food but couldn't see anything, which made him curse his stupidity all over again.

At least he'd get to hear 'whisker-boy' later tonight. He liked hearing that, he wasn't entirely sure why but he did, it sounded nicer than a lot of things he'd been called. Temari-Chan was even starting to refer to him as 'Whisker-boy' around the others. He smiled, twirling his kunai absently as he thought about her. He reflected that maybe he was getting a little too relaxed around her, she wasn't Sakura-Chan after all, but he felt comfortable. Tilting his head he considered that fact, before giving up and resumed his hunt for food.

Spotting the bushes moving nearby he launched into action, throwing his kunai expertly catching a small odd looking animal with brown fur and an ugly snout. Landing closely by, he tilted his head studying it; he had only wounded it and he could probably get a meal out of this if he was lucky.

Retrieving his kunai he considered the animal just a little bit closer. "Damn it," Then shaking his head he retrieved the few on hand medical materials he carried and patched the animal up the best he could before letting it go. Sitting back on his haunches he snorted standing as he turned to stride toward the middle of the clearing.

He was such an idiot, he should have taken what he had and been happy. Grumbling he put his weapons up before unzipping his jacket and tossing it to the side. Nothing else for it, he would just have to train his ass off and deal with the consequences he'd brought on himself. Just like back in the village when he had been ignored.

Lifting his fingers, he focused his chakra speaking softly "Shadow Clone Technique." He was greeted seconds later with two identical clones, who looked around before focusing on the original. Naruto relaxed his stance and smiled "Alright, same as last night. Attack me."

The clones wasted no time, charging in concert toward the boy. Naruto caught the punch aimed high from the first clone-Naruto, twisting the arm a full hundred and eight degrees throwing the clone-Naruto over his shoulder. Turning before he could see the results he jumped over a lunge, flipped in mid air, and landed a kick right in the back of the second clones head.

He landed seconds later to watch as the clone dropped to the ground before disappearing in a puff of smoke. Eyebrows knitting together in thought he shook his head that had been far too easy. Could he have been getting stronger or was it simply that he hadn't put enough chakra into them? He frowned deep in thought before clutching his stomach as it rumbled in protest of his denying it food.

"Be quiet you!" He shouted at it peevishly but found that did nothing for it. Grumbling he fell back onto the ground, spread eagle, staring up at the stars over head. What he wouldn't give for some food! Even those vegetables that Kakashi-sensei was always trying to force on him.

Then he heard the sound of footsteps and he sat up on his elbows to stare at the person standing just on the inside of the clearing. The tall girl was smiling and Naruto groaned before collapsing onto the ground, how could he have not noticed her following him!

"So Whisker-boy that all you have or are you just too hungry."

* * *

The night forest was still and calm, with only the slickest of predators moving through the underbrush. Silently two figures crouched down in the tree branches over the small camp beneath them; neither looked at the other or said a word watching the two ninja carefully. It wasn't a complicated plan. 

At least Sakura didn't think so.

All it required was absolute surprise and speed in a single well timed attack. Baki had suggested this course of action when she had whispered to him that she thought Shino and Shikamaru weren't who they seemed to be. Actually he had considered it for sixteen days, and then told her.

'The easiest way to make sure there who they're supposed to be is a quick attack. If you knock them out any sort of transformation techniques would be removed.'

The pink haired ninja finally glanced at her partner. The red headed ninja, who hadn't been her first choice and was here only because Baki had insisted, sensed her attention and glanced at her curiously. She frowned without meaning to, she could still remember the last time she was this close to the boy but she had no other choice and Naruto did seem to trust him.

Forcing her personal thoughts and feelings aside she considered the fact that these two were so far away from camp since they normally stayed close by. Gaara it seemed was thinking the same thing because he nodded every so slightly, it was an obvious question. Why?

It was also odd why it had taken Baki so long to decide on this course of action. Sakura admitted silently that she hadn't thought of this but she had been busy thinking more along the lines of finding out and then using that knowledge as a trap.

Gaara however seemed to be getting impatient and she decided to go ahead with the plan now while she could. Silently she pointed out 'Shino' then nodded telling him silently that was his target.

The red head merely looked at his target and Sakura located 'Shikamaru' tensing her muscles up for the pounce. Tense seconds ticked past and then suddenly a bullet of Sand blurred into the clearing, catching 'Shino' by surprise between the eyes. The boy collapsed almost instantly and

Sakura for a horrible minute thought he was dead, but she still found herself following suit. 'Shikamaru' reacted a split second later, turning from the surprise attack just as Sakura came out of the forest, her fist smashing into his jaw.

Landing lightly she turned to glance at Gaara who had teleported in a swirl of sand to stand before the still out cold Shino. Shifting her gaze the first thing she noticed was that he was breathing then the second thing was the fact that he hadn't changed. THAT WAS SHINO!

Feeling her stomach twisting into a knot she turned back to her target only to find that it was someone else other than the lazy looking bastard that was dating Ino. She relaxed slightly even while her mind began racing with possibilities. None of them made any sense and she looked at Gaara who narrowed his eyes answering her silently question.

"Baki isn't Baki."

Sakura slapped her forehead, unable to believe how stupid she'd been. So caught up in how odd Shino and Shikamaru had seemed she had missed that Baki wasn't behaving right! But why hadn't Kiba or Akamaru noticed the different scent? Easily answered of course, they weren't paying attention! None of them were.

"I'm so stupid!" Sakura muttered turning away, frustrated and disappointed with herself.

Gaara turned toward the camp, his voice calm "No. We just didn't notice."

"Ok, ok..." Sakura said, forcing her feelings of stupidity into a compartment for later study. "We need to take these two back to camp and let the others know what's going on."

"These two would slow us down." Gaara responded not looking back as the sand slowly spread up and over them "The sand will keep these two here."

Sakura started to protest then nodded, deciding that he was right. Besides they didn't have time to argue, the team was in danger. Narrowing her eyes she turned toward the direction of the camp before taking off with Gaara at her side all thoughts of silence cast aside.

Sakura knew she was scowling; she couldn't stop thinking how stupid she had been. If anyone died from this mistake it was her fault. Gaara however just seemed intent, then halfway there he veered off sharply and Sakura skidded to a stop.

"Where are you going?"

He paused as well, answering her without looking back "Naruto."

Sakura blinked then nodded "Alright." That said they silently they went they're separate ways.

* * *

"Ah! Thank you so much!" Naruto managed happily as he stuffed the food Temari had brought with her into his mouth. She didn't seem to care about his manners, but he paused self-conscious and swallowed then wiped at his mouth in an attempt to show some manners. 

He wasn't sure why and he really wasn't sure why she was smiling at him like that. Temari seemed to notice his attention and smiled a little more before taking a bite of her own portion of the meal.

Watching her for a moment Naruto smiled brightly, returning to his own meal making sure to eat like a 'normal' person. This was nice, the two of them alone and eating together, it wasn't quite the same as when they ate after his training or even when he had eaten with Sakura. It was different he just wasn't sure why and he sure as hell wasn't going to waste too much time trying reason that trail of thought out.

"So, this all you do to train?" Temari finally asked and he shook his head, not answering immediately.

He didn't want to tell anyone what he was practicing and he didn't want anyone to see. But, he noticed the look on her face and he felt something inside him urging him to spill the beans. Besides what was the point in having an ultra cool technique if he couldn't show it off and brag? "This was just a warm up."

She raised an eyebrow while setting the remainder of her food down "Well?"

Smiling nervously Naruto scratched the back of his head "I...err...well..." he paused for a moment, eyes shining with an excitement as he started explaining. "Well I've been making up a new technique and it's really cool. It's like the Shadow Clone Technique; anyway I create these physical clones but there different."

"Different?" Temari asked slowly, drawing out the sound and he nodded eagerly his hands starting to move as he explained.

"The idea came to me while I was dreaming about Ramen! It all just kept disappearing as soon as I stabbed it with my fork and then when I woke up I thought 'Damn it! They wouldn't stick around long enough..' well then when sparred with my normal Shadow Clones they disappeared after one hit and then I was like 'Hey! What if instead of the clones going poof when struck once they stuck around longer?'"

"So they what stick around for two hits?" Temari asked humor in her tone but Naruto shook his head excitedly.

"Nope. I just started working on it and working on it...I tried doing it like Sakura-Chan suggested when I mentioned creating a new technique but I couldn't get it to work so I got to thinking about my Sexy Technique and how its more stable than normal so-"

"Wait a minute." Temari said cutting him off "I have no clue what the Sexy Technique is."

"Oh, I can show you..." Naruto said innocently moving to stand but Temari shook her head and he shrugged settling back down. "I guess...if I had to explain it, its like the Transformation Technique's they taught in the academy but solid...at least I think they are...anyway, I got to thinking about it and I tried moving my chakra in the same way while making the new Shadow Clones-"

"But the Transformation Technique is just an illusion, you shouldn't have it solid!" Temari sort of exclaimed and when Naruto stared at her she finished weakly. "You can't just change a Jutsu like that."

"Sure you can." Naruto said simply -as if she had said the sky couldn't be blue- "It's really easy. All you do is take your Chakra and sorta wiggle it and then twist it here and there and...BAM! Anyway, my new technique the clones are real and! They won't disappear until they get killed but that takes a lot of effort."

"What?" Temari said slowly, eyes wide staring at him.

"They don't disappear until you kill them." Naruto repeated feeling a touch of annoyance, sure she looked impressed but she also looked like she didn't quite believe him. He had seen that look often enough when he was growing up in the village, people had given it to him all the time and sometimes they still did.

Yet somehow with her looking at him like that he felt...bad. No not bad, hurt? No, it wasn't quiet that, he just couldn't put his finger on what he felt with her looking at him like that but he didn't like it.

"N-Naruto...you can't just...there have to be..."

"Of course you can. It's easy Temari-Chan!" Naruto exclaimed, arms going up excitedly. "I'll tea-" Naruto was surprised however when Temari suddenly tackled him backward, with enough force that they slid along the ground. He felt a sharp pinch in his neck but didn't think too much of it, instead wondering what had happened.

When they came to a stop it was against a tree, with the bark painfully digging into Naruto's back and Temari on top, her arms around him protectively. What was wrong with her? He tried to shove her off, but suddenly realized that he couldn't quiet manage to move his arm.

He felt her breath on his cheek, it was ragged like she was struggling to breath and he felt something icy clutch at his heart. Then she was moving, or more accurately was being pulled off of him and tossed aside with little regard.

Yet even as he stared up at the masked figure hovering over him he saw the various needles all over her shoulders and neck. Something clicked in his mind and he realized what that sudden pinch in his neck had been.

The masked figure knelt, using his fingers to check his neck before cursing.

"How many hit him?" Someone else asked and the man started slipping thin strips of paper from his pouch.

"Not enough." The mysterious figure muttered in response moving to apply the first note on Naruto's chest but was forced to leap backwards dropping them as Naruto threw his entire will -aided by some Kyuubi power- into moving his body.

HOW DARE THEY HURT TEMARI!

Landing he cursed glaring at his companion.

"Most of them hit that stupid girl." The other ninja said rushing to his partner's side, kunai held between each of his fingers.

Naruto growled, his arms feeling like they were made of lead but he still managed to move, rolling over and pushing himself to his feet. He was luck Temari had tackled him when she had, she'd obviously thrown them off the mark and taken most of what they had meant to hit him with. He was also lucky that the Kyuubi chakra seemed enough to reverse the effects of the blow to his neck.

Then he heard the tell-tell hissing of exploding note and looked down. Half a dozen were scattered around his feet and one was even partial on his chest. Out of instinct he jumped seconds before the ones on the ground exploded, but he couldn't avoid the one attached to him and he felt as if his body was being torn apart.

His leap was turned into a downward fall with a rain of dirt and blood. The pain from the explosion raced through his body and he could taste his own blood. If he survived it was only because the seal was only partial attached to him when it went off.

"Giichi!"

Naruto just barely noticed the slicing pain of the kunai as the struck, it wasn't until his body began to burn even worse that he realized the blades had been poisoned. Twisting in the air like a rag doll he finally slammed into the ground, blood splattering as he did.

Naruto bounced once, flipping so that he landed face down with a sickening sound of something snapping. Breathing raggedly, his vision went in and out of focus but he cursed them weakly and struggled to move his body.

He had to get up.

* * *

Sakura was running, not as fast as he could but she was running. She had started out going at top speed, but then thinking about it doubted that this imposter Baki would try anything with Sogetsu, Kiba and Kankuro in camp. Besides, even if he did try they were strong and could handle it. 

Her biggest concerns were actually divided into the following: How exactly had they gotten Shikamaru and keep Shino from knowing? When had the managed to replace Baki and why hadn't Sogetsu noticed? What was the purpose of all this? Who or what were they after?

Sakura wrestled with those thoughts, but she forced herself to stop accepting that they would have answers soon enough. Right now she had to concentrate on getting back to camp, which meant pouring on just a tad more speed.

Hopefully Gaara would get to Naruto and then it'd really be in the teams favor, Gaara and Naruto on the same page would have to be almost impossible to beat. Her hopeful thoughts were thrown off course when a low rumbling filled the air off to her right side.

Skidding to a halt she took deep breaths, listening and wondering what was going on. The rumbling seemed like it was getting louder, it wasn't an earthquake so what could it be? Straining her ears and mind she realized it was an explosion.

An explosion coming from the direction that Gaara had went off in search of Naruto. What the hell? Glancing back at the direction the camp was she bit her lip then looked back toward were the explosion had come from.

What was she going to do?

"Take things one at a time." Sakura whispered to herself. "Naruto's strong, he can handle an explosion, and they might need me back at camp." Biting her lip still she started once more toward the camp but thousands of horrible images of Naruto being caught flat footed flashed to her mind and she came to an abrupt halt.

"H-he doesn't need my help...he's strong enough..." Sakura whispered and then found herself turning away from the camp and racing toward the direction the explosion had come from. Her heart was hammering in her chest as she pushed herself to move as fast as he could.

She felt her eyes trying to water up, but she didn't let them since there wasn't a point in crying. This was Naruto's fault, he just kept insisting on sneaking out of the camp to train. He never thought ahead, NEVER considered the possibility that something bad could happen to him.

Damn him!

Sakura cursed bitterly as she tried to push her legs to move even faster. They needed her back at the camp and she was out in the woods leaving them to struggle with a powerful enemy. Why was she even bothering with Naruto? This was his fault, like it always was when he got into trouble.

Kiba and Kankuro, they were strong but how strong? Naruto she had confidence in, so why had she made the hardest choice for the one guy here that could probably take anything thrown at him? Simple, he was her real friend who could have just been caught in an explosion and the others were just her teammates that she just barely knew.

Damn Naruto.

Her pink hair fluttered around her face as she continued her race, reviewing everything that could have happened to the boy. Somehow it hurt her that Naruto probably wouldn't need her training, because she wanted to show him just how good she was getting. Then she remembered Temari was probably with him and if they were together when things hit the fan...

Sakura felt the muscles in her jaw and around her eyes tighten. Maybe she WOULD get to show off for Naruto, but that desire came from a stupid, selfish, and making-no-sense whatsoever part of her personality.

Forcing even more chakra into her legs she moved even faster, leaves swirling behind her. It was amazing what you could accomplish with fine control, Sakura reflected as she forced herself into higher speeds than most could achieve. Kakashi-sensei had praised her for the control and Tsuande-sama had also, it was her one real talent.

Fine control.

* * *

Sogetsu couldn't help but grin as he dodged the various slashes and stabs of the attacking four-armed puppet. He could still see the look of surprise on Kankuro's face when the fight had started, shortly after the explosion, when he'd tried to use his recently acquired scroll to summon his other puppet. 

Unfortunately it had been destroyed before hand and he was stuck with the puppet he'd been carrying on his back. Sogetsu had originally been worried about how fast it would be, but now after the few brief exchanges he wasn't worried at all.

"I wonder how long you can remain hidden Kankuro." Sogetsu said grinning as he flipped backwards a split second before the charging puppet reached. A whistling sound alerted him to the secondary attack and he ducked at the last minute, unsurprised to find a knife extending from a detached arm.

Smirking he added charka to his speed and grabbed the arm yanking. This action seemed to have no response, except for a thick green liquid beginning to leak out of the joints and spread slowly. Realizing the danger almost instantly he released the device so that it clattered to the ground while he retreated.

Seconds later the puppet came charging back in, but it wasn't anything spectacular. Maybe Kankuro was getting sloppy, he doubted that, but he was probably getting tired. Not surprising with the amount of effort the boy was using to keep the chakra strings hidden -which took a great deal of skill-. Smiling he produced a handful of smoke bombs and dropped them using the cover to retreat upwards into the tree branches over head.

Crouching down he studied the clearing beneath him, flashing through the seals for his technique to see at night. Once the world was bright to him once more, he began scanning the clearing beneath him as best he could around the stationary puppet.

"Well," he murmured finally impressed. Kankuro wasn't slipping up with those chakra strings. Not that it mattered, he'd just have to destroy that doll and catch the ninja when he came charging out. Sogetsu's hands blurred through the four seals required to mold his chakra before thrusting his hands downwards fingers spread.

For a moment nothing happened and then branches snapped as ten miniature tornados extended from his fingers, tearing large patches up earth up under his tightly controlled barrage. Sogetsu watched in satisfaction as his specially designed technique created the havoc he intended. Sure it would reveal his location, but it would take care of that puppet first, he could already seeing it trying to dodge but he didn't let up and all too soon he severed the invisible strings and tore chunks out of the dolls body.

Keeping an eye out for tricks he quickly manipulated the whirlwinds and severed the remaining chakra strings so that it collapsed helplessly to the ground. Seizing his chance he brought his hands together forming a triangle, creating an even larger tornado which plowed through the damaged puppets chest.

"Hah! Now what are you going to Kankuro, your dollies not gonna help you now." Sogetsu gloated loudly, waiting for the tell-tell sign of an enemy charging out. It never came and he felt a nagging feeling of caution then turned, just as the dark sole of a sandal came smashing down into his face.

Grunting in pain he toppled out of the tree, narrowing his eyes as he flipped in the air to land in a crouch. Looking up he found Kankuro standing over head, arms crossed and glowering down at him as Sogetsu. "Then I'll guess we'll just have to settle things hand to hand."

Smirking Sogetsu stood slipping into his fighting stance "Oh yes, lets."

Kankuro his face twisting in anger jumped down, trying to drive a stomp kick into Sogetsu face. Unfortunately it only hit the x-block, which left him open for Sogetsu to grab the teen's foot and ankle, smashing the puppet master into the ground on his back. Sogetsu quickly followed with a stomping kick of his own, aiming for Kankuro's knee.

The boy however managed to yank his leg just enough so that the blow instead hit his shin with a sharp snapping sound. Releasing his grip Sogetsu snorted, allowing Kankuro to get back to his feet, taking satisfaction at the pain flittering across the teens face.

"Not bad, but then again your not much without your doll are you."

"Maybe not, but you have that superiority-complex." Kankuro managed then charged in, attempting another close range attack. Sogetsu however dodged each blow easily since there was no challenge without the puppet.

Sogetsu laughed openly in the frustrated boys face, unable to believe just how useless each of the former Kazekage kids were without there weapons. Laughing even more he ducked a particularly sloppy hook punch, and then caught the wrist and elbow as it came back in a hammer fist.

Locking the arm bar in Sogetsu drove his knee into Kankuro's thigh forcing the boy face first to the ground painfully. Bracing himself he smirked, voice dripping with sarcasm "You really think your something don't you? Pathetic."

"At least Kill-Me doesn't underestimate people." Kankuro managed, choking on dirt.

"What are you blabbering about?" Sogetsu asked, seconds before he heard the faint whistling of something approaching from behind. Releasing his hold on the arm he spun, hands coming up just in time to catch the head of the puppet with its extended knife inches from his chest. "That was clos-"

Then he felt it a burning sensation that raced up his legs, he knew what happened even as he looked down at his legs where the two arms sat there poisoned knifes sunk into his thighs and calf's. He tried to think of something to counter it, but his fingers twitched and he was forced to release his hold. Damn it!

Tripping he toppled backwards onto the ground, clenching his jaw tightly as he tried to fight the poison spreading through his body. How could he have gotten so careless? Stupid, stupid! Sogetsu raged at himself silently, while his vision blurred.

"Like I said, even Kill-me doesn't underestimate people." Kankuro said, as he pushed himself upright; Sogetsu coughed, his lungs burning from the struggle for breathe. Well he was dying and it was his fault, but he'd be damned if he went alone.

Sucking in a ragged breath he closed his eyes, lifting his hands to his chest where the preformed a quick, though shaky seal, activating the explosive notes he had on him. In the brief instant it took for the notes to ignite and explode his mind lost its grip on the world and he flashed through his most loved moments of life. Then seconds later the pain of the poison was overshadowed by his body being torn apart by the explosions.

* * *

Inuzuka Kiba hated his life. He had several reasons for hating it, but none at the moment was greater than the fact that he was in the middle of what was left of the camp, ducking and jumping like an insane gerbil in an attempt to avoid getting killed. If it wasn't for Akamaru who was perched on his head barking a special code, the ninja would have already bit the dust.

This large, masked man had already claimed responsibility for killing Baki and he actually seemed to have the speed and strength to back that claim. Thankful this Diaki seemed to rely on taijutsu, which meant Kiba might have an almost even chance of beating him.

Kiba couldn't help but grunt as he tried to deflect an incoming blow that Akamaru had missed, but was forced backwards into a tree with enough force to make him feel as if he had broken his back. Kiba cursed wincing then on instinct alone ducked at Akamaru's bark of warning, allowing another blow to sail over head and snap a thick tree branch off the tree.

"Damn!" Kiba shouted, springing forward striking while the man's side was exposed. Driving his shoulder into the man's ribs he grunted and rolled away, Akamaru clinging to him tightly. Kiba skidded to a halt before getting to his feet quickly; jumping backwards avoiding a punch as it came crashing to the earth where he had just been.

There was no chance he could slug it out with this guy and his ninjutsu would require too much time to perform. Not that his opponent was giving him the chance, which meant he would have to try and make his own chance.

"Akamaru, get ready." Kiba whispered and when he received a confirming bark followed by the dog fleeing its perch on his head the dark haired ninja lunged forward, meeting Diaki in his charge. Ducking the right hook Kiba produced a kunai from his jacket sleeve, sinking it as far as he could into the large man's side.

Instant they separated -the large man grunt in pain and holding his ribs- Kiba spun, skidding to a stop with his hands in position for his patented Beast Human Clone Technique.

"Was that the best-" The masked ninja started to shout but paused seeing the rolling chakra surrounding Kiba and Akamaru who was racing over to jump onto the boys back. Seconds later they're were two Kiba's, each bearing fangs and flexing claws.

"Hyaaaaa!" The two Kiba's roared in unison as they pushed off with tremendous speed, spinning so quickly they created twin whirlwinds "Double Piercing Fang!"

Diaki reacted on instinct crouching down, attempting to protect his head. He was buffeted from side to side, his uniform getting sliced to pieces along with thin cuts appearing. Yet when the Kiba's came to a stop seconds later they saw the man standing up and pop his neck as if hey had been through nothing more than a summer breeze.

"That was a nice trick...how about I show you one of mine?"

Identical frowns found their way to both Kiba's faces as they produced a set of Kunai in each hand while crouching down for their next attack. Diaki however seemed unimpressed; lifting two of his fingers up swirling them slightly creating what appeared as typhoon level winds. "Blade of Wind!"

It happened in an instant; Kiba jumped shouting for Akamaru to do the same. Spinning they tried to weather the attack but despite there mass and speed were knocked back to the ground blood splattering the earth. Groaning the dog ninja pushed himself back up, his hands missing the familiar feel of kunai.

Looking around wincing in pain he tried to find Akamaru, but Diaki didn't give him the chance, moving quickly to catch the boy with a kick to the chin. Cursing under his breath he tried to check on his pet as he skidded along the ground but couldn't focus.

Diaki was blind sided by Akamaru-Kiba's Piercing Fang, which gave Kiba enough time to recover and get back to his feet, though his body ached in a thousand places from that last attack. Damn it looked like they would have to use their trump card; he was loosing too much blood for this fight to last much longer.

"Dynamic Marking!" Kiba shouted moving quickly as Akamaru transformed back into his dog form and began the specialized marking sequence. Kiba skidded to a halt, catching Akamaru, just as Diaki began cursing the dogs trick. That gave them all the time they needed to resume the transformation and launch the trump attack.

Tossing Akamaru up Kiba crouched down, assuming an attack stance. Seconds after a new set of what felt like sandals touched his shoulders they began a perfectly coordinated set of seals, with Kiba shouting out their intent at the last second "Man Beast Combination Transformation: Double-Headed Wolf!"

Seconds' later smoke seemed to billow up from nowhere surrounding them and Kiba felt his body groaning in protest at what the chakra was asking of it. The pain was brief however and the Kiba-Akamaru wolf growled jumping clear of the smoke glaring down at the stunned looking masked ninja. Diaki seemed to recover but it did him little good as the massive wolf began spinning in its downward decent.

With a roar of anticipation, the double-headed wolf was soon spinning with such ferocious speed that the trees nearly uprooted themselves from the wind. Diaki fumbled with his hands before desperately trying his slicing Blades Of Wind once more, however this time the mass it was slamming into was spinning far to fast to be affected.

Seconds later Diaki was knocked off his feet as the massive animal slammed into him, blood flowing behind it as the wolf rebounded from the ground and came back. The second blow came as he managed to get into a standing position, twisting the ninja around like a grain of dust in a hurricane. Falling Diaki tried to recover but was nailed yet again, forced to land in an awkward position.

Diaki tried to get back up only to be smashed back into the dirt by the final blow, a giant paw slamming down against his back with a snapping sound. Diaki made a loud wheezing noise, struggling futilely for a moment as he clawed at the dirt before his muscles relaxed and she took a finally shuddering wheeze of breathe. Tentatively, as if sensing the death, the massive animal removed its paw and was once more engulfed in smoke and a popping noise as the transformation ran out.

Thank the gods that had worked. Kiba thought wincing as he wondered how badly he was hurt. Maybe it was just a superficial wound but he doubted that, but he could hope. When he slammed into the earth he hissed a curse. That hadn't done him any good; he just hoped that Akamaru wasn't hurt to badly. At least they had won this fight, all on they're own.

That was something to be proud of right there. He was getting stronger and so was Akamaru, soon they'd even be able to win a fight without pushing themselves so close to the edge.

Damn it hurt.

* * *

He had to get up, had to fight. But his body refused to move and he could taste the coppery tang of blood in his mouth, yet he continued to try and stand up. He wouldn't give up, wouldn't stop, he couldn't stop. Up! He silently shouted but his body continued to ignore him. 

He stared almost sightlessly out at the world around him, his eyes were so heavy. He had to get up, but he was so tired, he couldn't...without realizing it his eyes closed, mind slipping away as his rattling breath slowed to a dangerous rhythm. Then in the darkness a noise pulled his mind back from the brink of nothingness.

The sound of gates being attacked and the roar of anger.

_**"HOW DARE THEY!" A malevolent voice roared, obviously taking this personal.**_

Naruto struggled to keep breathing, he had to keep breathing.

_'NARUTO!'_

He heard the memory-shout from Temari and he struggled a little bit harder. He wouldn't die now, he couldn't die! He was Uzumaki Naruto! In the uncertainty that filled the moment he heard another howl of primal rage and suddenly his breathing became easier.

_'I felt I had become stronger…I started liking myself a little more… It was thanks to you...' _

He had to get up, had to move, had to save her...his body hurt so bad though. It was like his joints were on fire and his blood was boiling. What was happening to him? Why was his body hurting so much and still refusing to respond to him. He had to save her; he didn't have time for this.

He was getting up!

Then he heard the howl of rage growing in intensity and he understood. The burning pain, the blood boiling. The demon inside him was forcing life back into his body. The Kyuubi was pissed and in his weakened state there was going to be little he could to keep the demon influence in check.

_**"HOW DARE THEY!" That malevolent voice roared once more. **_

Naruto opened his eyes slowly; his sight so much sharper and clearer that he had no doubt that he was already partially transformed. He focused on a blade of grass trying to regain some form of control; he could feel the bones in his hands cracking slightly as they altered themselves into claws.

Yet some how he was only able to see a memory he had repressed.

_'Rasengan!' Naruto shouted slamming his hand forward, driving the swirling blue mass of Chakra into the already dying ninja's sternum. The force of the blow fought the power of his clawed grip which tightened around the man's throat. _

_The dying ninja howled with inhuman suffering as the torture continued until finally Naruto released his hold and sent the ninja spinning backwards with a gapping hole in his chest. _

_Unseeingly he stared at his bloodstained hand. _

"A bit young for me...but she's not too bad looking." Distantly as if the noise was coming from a long corridor, he heard his attackers "Hey you don't mind if we borrow your girlfriend do you?"

A righteous fury blossomed with such intensity that all morals were cast aside and he willed his hand flat against the ground, the red chakra surrounding his arm and hand. Damn them! They deserved to have the demon unleashed on them for what they were doing.

He wouldn't let them!

This was more than a simple fight. _'Hey damned fox, you want them?' _A wordless roar of affirmation and Naruto managed a feral smile. _'Just don't harm her...'_

Pushing upwards his muscles protesting for a moment and then the burning sensation of the demon inside him took care of the pain. Slowly, his mind retreated inwards allowing the demon its influence while Naruto began to stand.

"I guess not Giichi." The voice said casually answering its own question. "You want to go first or should-"

Naruto heard the demon roar in anticipation of its release as he managed to stand upright once more.

"Wha-impossible!" one of the future dead men shouted.

Naruto felt his throat burn from the animalistic growl that escaped him _'Just remember...she's off limits.' _Naruto shot at the Kyuubi as he lifted his gaze to meet the looks of the two ninjas. "**You're not going to touch her**."

"Wh-why not?"

"**Because I'm going to kill you.**" he said in a flat, though slightly distorted, voice. Then finally, Naruto released his faint grip on control and the demon influence rushed in with such evil glee that Naruto's lips twitched into one of the most disturbing smiles that any human had ever been witness too.

The one on the left took a step back, eyes wide in fear.

"Murai!" The other ninja shouted angrily while at the same time drawing and throwing his kunai.

Kyuubi-Naruto crouched down clawed hands flexing while the red chakra that had been leaking out of him slowly took the shape of a tailed fox. Red eyes narrowed watching the seemingly slow moving weapons and then at the last second he released a hate filled roar deflecting the weapons before moving with such speed that he appeared to disappear.

He reappeared behind the attacking ninja, slashing out with such terrible strength that the ninja was sent hurtling through the air, blood falling behind him from the deep gashes in his back. Crouching down on all fours, Kyuubi-Naruto watched his prey intently before rearing back with one of his arms thrust his hand forward, extending a tendril of red chakra in the shape of a clawed hand plowing though the earth.

The ninja had no clue what hit him; only that his shoulders and abdomen exploded into unbearable pain. Kyuubi-Naruto roared in satisfaction jerking his arm, sending the energy tendril and the impaled ninja to the side where he promptly crashed into a tree uprooting it.

Relaxing his hand Kyuubi-Naruto recalled the tendril, sensing the kill close at hand. Muscles rippling the demonic boy charged across the clearing before leaping into the air, twisting slightly before coming down on all fours on the ninja's chest with a sickening sound.

Blood sprayed into the air from the ninja's mouth and Kyuubi-Naruto roared leaping off of its prey and would have continued its vicious assault on the ninja's corpse, but Naruto's instincts reasserted themselves for a moment holding it in check. Frustration raced through Kyuubi who was still trapped behind the accursed gates.

He was still subject to Naruto's instincts and the limit of influence he could toss into the chakra. Which meant it could only drive the boy so far before they would seek to reestablish some sort of boundaries on him. Still they were only a minor nuisance to him, as long as he didn't harm her.

Shrugging them off for a moment Kyuubi-Naruto lashed out, slashing through the man's clothes and chest with both his physical and chakra claws. Blood splattered the demonic boy's cheek and he crouched down, satisfaction racing through his mind.

Then he remembered the other one.

* * *

Hanuro Sakura did not panic -at least not in the traditional sense- she had been in far too many fights through her short time as a ninja. As a Kunoichi she did not have the luxury of panicking, as a medical ninja she especially didn't have that luxury. Because the instant she panicked, it could cost someone his or her life. 

Yet for some reason, racing through the forest away from people that would need her and toward someone that wouldn't, she felt that was exactly what she was doing. She was panicking and for some unknown reason this made her move even faster, made her push just a little bit more. She still couldn't understand it though, why after all this time was she doing something so stupid?

Sakura found herself cursing Naruto silently and her own stupidity. Yet she managed to move even faster, so fast that even some ninja's would have problems following her. He didn't need her, Sasuke had never needed her either, yet she always rushed to help them. She always messed things up though, got in the way, she was nev-she skidded to a halt, shaking her head violently.

NO!

She wouldn't think like that. She was different now she could help! Naruto might be stronger than her and Sasuke might be stronger than her; but she could help! She was Hanuro Sakura, apprentice to The Fifth Hokage Tsunade-Sama! She would help Naruto because he was her comrade and he needed her! She would help Sasuke because she loved him and he needed her!

She was HANURO SAKURA!

Then she felt it, a murderous intent the likes of which she had only felt once before. Sakura couldn't help but take a step backwards and lean against a tree...it was so deep, so hate-filled...taking a deep breath, she pushed off the tree struggling to keep her breathing under control.

She had to put this...fear...into a compartment. It was pointless and it wasn't helping her or Naruto, because on some instinctual level Sakura knew that was who this murderous intent came from. It was like Sasuke and the Forest of Death all over again, but she wouldn't let it end the same way.

Frowning in disgust at her own stupidity and weakness, she took off, running faster than ever ignoring the faint burning in her lungs. She didn't care; she had to get to Naruto as quickly as she could, because if this feeling was coming from Naruto she never wanted to be exposed to it again.

She had failed Sasuke, she would be damned if she failed Naruto as well.

She wouldn't let it happen again.

* * *

Murai wet his lips, watching in a frightened fascination as the blond tore into Giichi. Stupid, he thought darkly. A head on assault had been the most foolish thing Giichi had ever attempted. Neither of them stood a chance against this boy, not now. That was why they had selected an ambush, because they had been told just how dangerous this brat was when forced. 

Murai had covered every angle; Sembon needles, poisoned kunai and exploding seals. Most of all it was surprise and absolutely no reason for the boy to get back up. Murai felt his stomach churn at the way his friend was being man handled by such a young child.

Not that Murai was doing himself much good just standing there watching. He knew that as soon as the blond was finished with his partner he was next and that it wouldn't be a pleasant death.

He had to think!

What could he do against this onslaught? Run! He dodged the incoming attack by the skin of his pants, staring hard at the blond and his red chakra. Yes, keep moving don't stop and don't let him corner you.

Damn it! He cursed as the boy thrust a hand out sending a tendril of chakra in the shape of a clawed hand toward him, flipping he dodged it only to receive a blow from the other hand. Cursing he clutched his now useless arm he moved away, dodging and dancing as best he could managing always to avoid a killing or truly crippling blow but just barely.

This demon was just too fast for him, he had no hope. None at all. Murai struggled to keep his rising fear under control, if he panicked now he really would be dead. He heard the cracking of timber and jumped out of the way to avoid the collapsing tree and then slipped just as a red hand came hurtling through the space his chest and head had been.

Cursing his luck, he landed painfully on top of Temari. This was it, any second those claws would come crashing into him and he'd be dead. Damn it get up! Murai silently raged at himself, but he knew he'd lost too much blood.

Looking up he saw Naruto crouching down like an animal, eyes narrowed and growling.

Yet the blond didn't move toward him, or send those red-clawed hands at him. The only movement was that red chakra tail behind him. Why? He was easy prey so why halt his attack now. What was going on, what had stopped the boy's attacks? Without thinking, he shoved the girl that was beneath him away weakly, only to pause as a low rumble filled the clearing.

Blinking he stared up at the blond who was crouching down like a predator about to spring. There was no reason for it, not that it really mattered, Murai could taste the blood in his mouth and the way his body was refusing to function properly. He was dying already.

Then his mind started clicking on facts that he had over looked. Naruto had only struck out because they had threatened Temari. He had stopped his onslaught because Murai had collapsed on top of her. Naruto had growled because he had shoved her away.

Damn the brat had a weakness but Murai was too weak to exploit it. Closing his eyes, he tried to prepare himself for the coming death, but he couldn't just give up. He had a chance to live, a chance to tell the council that they should just take the boy when he came.

Summoning all the reserves of strength he possessed Murai moved, grabbing her wrist and yanking her up and over him all in one fluid motion. He heard the growl of rage but it didn't matter, he was safe.

Now he just had to get to his feet and escape.

* * *

Gaara peered down into the clearing, arms crossed, studying the situation below detachedly. These two ninjas had never stood a chance that much was obvious. He'd arrived just as the first ninja died -twenty minutes ahead of Sakura- and he had watched in curiosity as Naruto toyed with the last one. 

It was obvious to Gaara that Naruto was like a cat with a lame mouse, toying with it before putting it out of his misery. Not that Naruto seemed entirely in control of his actions. Gaara wasn't sure what had given him that impression but it was still there. Gaara was also curious about that red chakra, it wasn't the first time he had seen it but this was the first time it had ever taken a physical form.

Deep inside, Gaara felt Shukaku stirring slightly, as if it was responding to something. Sleep deprived eyes narrowed slightly, studying the chakra more closely. It seemed to be moving on its own, as if guided by an entirely separate consciousness. It was hesitating though, why?

Because Naruto didn't want to risk hurting Temari.

Gaara felt his eyes widen in that realization at the same time the enemy ninja made his move, hauling his sister up in front of him like a human shield. It was a clever move, exploiting the weakness. However Gaara felt something inside him stirring, something almost foreign. Concern for his sister. Then the anger came, like a tidal wave.

How DARE HE! That was **HIS** sister!

Without realizing it, he was willing the sand to start spreading over his body, so that he could take on the misshapen and blue veined body of the demon inside him. Yet even as it began to respond, the Shukaku fought against his will, attempting to hold the sand in the gourd.

Gaara didn't understand, normally it was very happy he was willing to take that form but now it was as if the demon was afraid? No, that didn't feel quite right, but since Shukaku didn't speak to him in the clearest of terms, he had no clue.

Why?

Curiosity replacing his anger Gaara let the sand slip back into the gourd, frowning in thought as he considered Naruto and his red chakra. He had know that the blond had something inside him that gave him incredible power, a bloodline limit or something similar, something that Naruto could consider a 'monster'.

Yet now with the reaction of the sand demon inside of Gaara, he had to rethink that. Maybe this monster was another demon. Why hadn't the tanuki reacted before now? Why was it only now reacting to the demon sealed inside Uzumaki Naruto? Because it was only now that the demon was physically manifesting itself.

The red head finally understood what had prompted his 'fathers' interest in the sand demon. He also guessed that this was like two predators in the wild, avoiding fights if possible. Nothing to do with fear, but everything to do with survival.

Gaara snapped himself out of his reflections as the ninja threw Temari away from him, while at the same time taking off into the forest. Naruto looked torn for a moment and Gaara understood the inner struggle between ninja and demon, in the end Naruto won.

With blinding speed, the blond moved toward the still unconscious girl, catching her inches from the ground even as his red chakra receded.

That left the enemy ninja for Gaara.

The red headed ninja moved quietly, slipping into the man's path to cut off his escape. Gaara didn't even blink as his shield of sand whipped up and around absorbing the few throwing stars and kunai that had been tossed at him.

Narrowing his eyes Gaara turned his head to follow the other ninjas new path, he could let the man go...yet even as he thought that, his sand snapped out like a whip, knocking him to the ground before cinching around his ankles and pulling him back.

The man laid motionless, not squirming as the sand slowly slid up his legs, enclosing him inside a cocoon of sand. Gaara raised an eyebrow, wondering about that until he saw the puddle of blood under the man's mask. That would explain it; in his attempt to flee and subsequent capture, he'd bitten through his tongue and was in shock.

This would be a mercy killing now...if he was pleasant about this.

Gaara smiled slowly, like a predator his eyes tightening. Closing his fingers slightly the sand began to compact and the man tried to struggle futilely. When the pressure was too much the ninja began to scream in a bloody, confused voice. Gaara tilted his head to the side, eyes shining with something akin to pleasure.

How he missed doing this to those that annoyed him, the way they struggled so futilely against his sand. Yet, now he couldn't take quite as much pleasure in the prolonged death of this ninja. Frowning in disgust with himself, Gaara tightened his hand into a fist, causing the sand to finish the gruesome task.

"Desert Funeral."

The ninja's mutilated screams echoed in the night, the blood raining down over the area. Lowering his hand back at his side, feeling less than satisfied. He was getting soft; he should have tortured the man a bit more first...but that would have been wrong.

Closing his eyes, he stood there a moment longer then turned back toward the clearing, moving slowly until he stopped just inside the shadow of the trees. He could hear Sakura's hurried footsteps and wondered what had kept her, but he was really only paying attention to Naruto and Temari.

Eyebrows knitting together he was presented with a new problem; what should he do about those two?

* * *

She was breathing; Naruto kept repeating that over and over to himself. Each time he thought that relief flooded through him for a few moments before the fear came rushing back. At least she was alive and she was breathing. Yet despite the ebbing tides of comfort and fear, he felt empty, so empty that he almost wished the damned fox were still influencing his actions. 

Sighing, he started checking Temari over once more, it gave him something to do. He'd already removed the various needles that had hit her, cursing each time he did so. Other than that, he had been forced to rely on the basic medical skill from the academy and he could almost swear that he could hear hollow laughter belonging to Kyuubi.

Even with his basic understanding, he knew that something was wrong with her, because her forehead was beginning to glisten with sweat. Thankfully he kept his panic under control as he tried to decide what to do. He couldn't leave her there to go get Sakura and he didn't want to risk moving her to carry her back to camp.

Lacking other ideas, he patted her cheek softly, trying to get her to open her eyes. He knew it was a futile effort, but he still tried. He eventually found himself stroking her cheek with his fingers, but he quickly pulled his fingers away and began calling her name loudly.

Focused as he was, he still heard the snapping of twigs and he turned, pulling a kunai just as Sakura came rushing into the clearing. "Sakura-Chan!" The pink haired ninja came to an abrupt stop looking around at the destruction, eyes slightly wide before starting toward him and Temari. Naruto moved back slightly to give her room, finally appreciating the true value of having a medical ninja with the team.

"Naruto...what happened?" Sakura asked, checking Temari over frowning thoughtfully.

"We were talking...and then Te-Chan tackled me...and she had all these sebon needles in her, I just pulled them out..." he darted his eyes around then looked back at her "I think...she's not poisoned is she? I mean I know the kunai they used on me were but the needles...she's sweating..."

Sakura scowled, obviously concentrating before the chakra formed around her hands. Then silently she reached inside the other girl, removing globes of something before tossing them aside. Naruto watched in silence as his best friend worked desperately to save Temari and absently he wondered when exactly Sakura had changed. Yes, he had always thought she was a good ninja, but now she seemed so much better.

"I think I got everything, the poison wasn't too serious. Just a paralyzing agent." Sakura said after a moment, the tension leaving her voice. "When we get back to camp I'll give her some antidotes that I made before we left Konoha."

Naruto let out the breath he'd been holding and studied her closely, frowning "Are you alright Sakura-Chan?"

"Hmm? yea." Sakura said absently, and then looked up at him questioningly. "Where's Gaara? He was supposed to be heading this way already."

Naruto stared at her for a moment then looked around "I don't know. I was to busy...I-I" Suddenly everything that had happened flooded through his mind. The pain, the hate that let Kyuubi influence him so much, the death. It all left a bitter taste in his mouth, it hadn't been right. Kyuubi had made him take pleasure in the murder...but he couldn't hide behind that reasoning.

"You protected someone important to you." Sakura said gently standing as well, hand touching his shoulder. Then she glanced down at Temari then back up at him "We need to get back to the camp, Kiba and Kankuro were fighting one of the guys behind this whole deal."

Naruto forced back the tears he had felt trying to form, no time for that but it was just so hard to keep it all bottled up inside him and there wasn't room anymore. Still Naruto shoved his loneliness, fears, hate and guilt aside. He had to help his friends; he turned to take a step but paused remembering Temari.

He looked down, her face appearing to glow in the dim light of the moon over head. She looked so beautiful; he wanted to kiss her. He looked away suddenly ashamed at his feelings and thoughts, he wasn't entirely sure why other than...he liked her...like he used to like Sakura and-

"I'll bring her back." A new voice said abruptly and Naruto turned with Sakura to see Gaara entering the clearing arms crossed. Seeing they're attention, he repeated himself slowly. "I'll bring her back."

"Where were you?" Sakura asked defensively and Gaara raised an eyebrow before glancing at Naruto.

"Watching."

Naruto understood what the look meant and grabbed Sakura's arm jerking on it "Come on, we gotta go help Kiba and that bastard Kankuro." The pink haired girl nodded and turned following the blond as he took off into the forest.

Naruto kept a decent lead on Sakura, mulling everything over eventually convincing himself that he liked Temari as just a friend. He put every ounce of belief in that and it seemed to work. With that issue resolved, and knowing that Gaara had seen what he'd done, he poured even more chakra into his legs.

Sakura it seemed was working over time to keep up with him but it didn't register. Because deeper inside Naruto, near where Kyuubi resided, Naruto knew that he liked the other girl as more than a friend.

**

* * *

**

AN:

1) Due to more than a few questions about the time frame for this fic, I will give you a clear answer. (Like I did in Chapter 1) This is anime based and as such falls into the filler arc line, up to the Curry of Life episodes. There is a minor plot change in an earlier filler episode, I'm not going to say which because it'll be revealed soon enough.

2) FIGHTS! There was a bunch of that going on in this chapter, you have a probelm with any of them (Beyond 'Dude those sucked!' I want ligitmate problems if your gonna complain about my fights.) then please let me know.

3) Temari is 15 and Naruto is 13, that's a 2 year age difference. It is also very possible, a two year age difference isn't a big deal (once you get past a five year age difference that causes the real problems.) Just mentioning this so that were all on the same page for this fic.

4) Anything you might complain about invovling Shikamaru, Shino, Baki and/or Sogetsu being too easily fooled or etc. will be answered next chapter!

5) Expect reinforcements soon.

6) Finally Naruto's fight:

It does make sense that the 4th would make sure that Kyuubi didn't have ANY control what so ever, to make sure that he is completely caged and not just given the same chance in a human body. However I think that in Naruto's weakened conditoned Kyuubi might be able to exert some control through his chakra.

Evidence could be seen from toward the end of the Sauske/Naruto Battle Royal. At least that's my view on it, feel free to disagree but who's to say that kyuubi couldn't pump out his chakra with a little extra something in it? Also anytime you pour demon essence into something it's going to be influenced.

And that's all I have to say on that.

Thanks to my beta Wanderer3 and to my reviewers.

Geor-sama


	6. Chapter 6

**Naruto:  
**_Brothers of Sand and Leaf  
_By Geor-sama  
-Chapter 6-

* * *

The morning came with a cold sting and the sky overcast a dull gray, providing no warmth to the silent ruins of the camp. The tents had been shredded and the fire had been put out from the dirt of the fights that had taken place. Most importantly however -after the fact that most of the team had survived- was that the food had ruined. 

That was why Naruto was standing on the bank of the river, shirtless and preparing to dive into its cold murky depths. The blond had seen the devastation clearly and he knew that it was his fault. Taking a deep breath, he dove into the shimmering surface of the cold body of water in search of fish. The water was icy; creating a sensation off a thousand little knifes piercing his skin.

He turned the sensation out, it was an unpleasant reminder about last night and his fight -slaughter- he corrected himself then cursed mentally. He kicked hard and drove himself deeper into the water, letting the eddies play with his hair as he searched for breakfast and thought about other things.

His three friends who were currently sleeping soundly in the only tent that had managed to avoid taking too much damage. Naruto had kept close to Temari's side for most of the night -much to Sakura's apparent displeasure- leaving only when the pink-haired ninja has asked him to get a fire going.

The bumps on his head told him that he wasn't to return.

So he had built the fire and then spent the remainder of the night staring at Gaara who said nothing. Sakura -once she was sure that nobody was still in danger and that the prisoner they had captured was still alive and subdued- soon joined them falling asleep next to Naruto, with her head resting on his shoulder eventually.

Naruto spotted a fish and reacted with ninja reflexes catching the smooth animal, which was at least as big as his arm. He kicked upwards fighting with it. His lungs were beginning to burn from lack of breathing, but he continued to fight gamely with his prize as he rose at an ever increase rate.

Finally, he broke the surface with a loud in take of air, the fish thrashing wildly. His blond hair matted to his head he wrestled fiercely, forgetting every horrible thing that had happened in the last few hours as he struggled against his prey. Wadding toward shore and fighting desperately with his meal he laughed in pleasure finally feeling the sloping sand banks of the river under his feet.

Climbing out of the water dripping wet and shivering he unceremoniously dumped the fish onto the ground with the other previous catches. Laughing in triumph he collapsed into a sitting position, thinking that he should have fished last night that thought proved to be a mistake.

It only reminded him that Temari had risked her life to save him and that he had slaughtered a ninja, most importantly, it reminded him that it was his fault.

The entire fiasco last night was his fault.

Any sort of delight he had taken in his victory of the fish slipped away, even as it trashed back toward the water. He should let it go, but then everybody would be hungry and it'd be his fault all over again. He hadn't been able to bring Sasuke back, he couldn't help in the village because most of the villagers though they respected him somewhat still didn't trust him, and he couldn't even do simple missions without messing things up.

Everything was his fault.

He looked up suddenly hearing a twig snap and tried to hitch a bright smile on his face as Sakura moved toward him. Her hair was in a slight halo around her face and her skin seemed even smoother in the early morning sunlight. Coming to a stop, she stared at him and then the fish before smiling slightly. "Guess your hungry huh?"

"Nope!" Naruto managed in a bright voice. "I'm just fishing for everybody."

Sakura paused and Naruto felt suddenly uneasy. She was staring at him far too searchingly; what was she trying to see, to understand about him? He actually blushed slightly under her scrutiny and she seemed to exhale very slowly before sitting next to him turning her attention to the dull sky.

"Do you want to talk about..." Sakura hesitated and then glanced at him. "About what you did last night? To that ninja..."

Naruto suddenly looked away from her, gazing at the surface of the water. He didn't want to have this discussion; he wanted to keep it hidden, away from everybody, because even though she had seen the results of that fight she didn't understand. "No." He finally mumbled and then let out a heavy breath.

Sakura was silent for a moment then wrapped her arms around her knees. "W-was it easy Naruto?"

"Yes." Naruto answered without thinking and then realizing what he said quickly explained what he meant, so that Sakura didn't think he was a monster. "I mean Ero-Sennin told me once...that killing a man was easy, it was making the decision to do so that was hard."

He felt her startled gaze on him and he closed his eyes, his voice cracking as he spoke. "I-Sakura-Chan...I don't like the part of me that...last night...I made it without thinking. I was angry, I was hurt, I wanted them to pay fo-for what they-"

"For what they did to Temari?" She finished softly and Naruto shook his head slightly.

"No, I mean yes...but there was...it was what they were going to do her that..." Naruto let out a heavy breath and opened his eyes glancing over at her. "They wanted to...and I could hear them talking about it...and, and...I just..."

Sakura was silent for a moment, staring at the water then looked over at him. "I-Naruto...Last night I made a mistake too. I was on my way to the camp...to help out...but for some reason I abandoned them and went rushing to you."

"Sakura-Chan." Naruto managed in a sort of soft whisper and Sakura glanced at him, smiling slightly. The moment lasted for another few minutes and then Sakura looked away, settling to gaze upon the sky once more.

"Naruto?"

"Hm?" Naruto managed, having managed to lose himself in his own thoughts. Maybe things weren't entirely his thought, and he half wished that they could have opened like this to each other earlier.

"How do you think Sasuke-kun is going to react?"

Naruto jerked as he put all thoughts aside and turned to gaze at Sakura, noting how depressed she was looking. Sighing he looked away from her, voice almost regretful. "He'll fight like last time...he...Sakura-Chan, he won't be the same as when you knew him."

"Oh..." Sakura frowned for a moment, then turned and as if on impulse kissed Naruto's cheek. Staring at her awe-struck, he watched as she stood up and stretched then looked down at him smiling that sweet smile. "We'll bring him back Naruto! I know it."

Naruto stood up, smiling confidently nodded determinedly. She was right; together they could bring Sasuke back!

* * *

Sakura felt that the entire world seemed to fit her mood cold and disheartened. It hadn't been so horribly long since she had last spent any time with Naruto and yet he seemed different now. It depressed her because she had always believed that he would always be so light-hearted and Naruto-stupid. Frowning she studied the back of the blonds head as he walked ahead of her, carrying the fish he had caught happily talking. 

He was pretending so hard that the melancholy moment -in which he had seemed painfully normal- near the river had never happened. Last night she had compared him to Sasuke because of that killer intent and now she was doing it again, but this time because of how alone and mature he had appeared.

Was Naruto really so different from Sasuke? Maybe they were the same and only appeared different. Naruto certainly seemed to have bounced back while Sasuke had seemed to reveal in it, but they were so similar at times, that it frightened her. Sighing she looked down at her feet, then looked back up realizing that Naruto was no longer talking.

Yet there was something in the air that hinted of danger. She couldn't understand that feeling and almost called out to Naruto when she heard the faint whistling sound. In the precious seconds it took her to locate the kunai she realized that she wouldn't be able to avoid it, she was in essence caught flat-footed.

Just as she prepared to move her body so that the weapon would strike a less vital area her vision was obscured by an orange blur followed by a meaty thunk. Color drained from her face as the worst horrible explanation filled her mind: Naruto had taken a kunai for her.

Seconds later a tall, dark-haired female dressed in a brown jacket and only body netting with a mini skirt held in place by a single belt appeared. Her face was familiar, but before Sakura could try to place a name, she beamed a rather sadistic smile reaching out to snatching her kunai, along with a fish, from an unmoving Naruto's grasp.

"Fresh fish!"

"YOU!" The blond bellowed suddenly dropping the remaining fish as he pointed at her.

The dark haired woman stared at him blankly for a moment, and then blinked. "Do we know each other?"

"Damn it," Naruto grumbled crossing his arms. "You're that sadistic bitch from the exams!" The dark haired woman's eye twitched and Sakura tensed, now that he had said it she remembered this woman and despite her Naruto-ish behavior she was rather dangerous.

Before anything could really happen, a familiar masked ninja walked out of the forest, his single-eyed gaze fixed on a red book and his silver hair was spiky as ever. Looking up he took in the group and then snapped his book shut, grinning -though the only evidence of it was his eye closing in a happy manner. "Yo."

Naruto, getting even louder thrust a finger at his former Team Seven sensei. "KAKASHI-SENSEI?"

"Now I remember, still spirited..." The dark haired woman said in an obviously falsely cheerful voice, before driving her kunai forward in the blink of an eye placing it against Naruto's cheek. The point actually pressed against his skin hard enough so that a bead of blood oozed out. "The name is Mitarashi Anko and you're still the type that gets killed quickly." That said she actually managed a giggle.

Naruto glared at Anko then pushed her kunai away, his voice growing more boisterous than ever as he jabbed a finger into her face. "I'm Uzumaki Naruto, The Next Hokage and your still a sadistic bitch!" That said he crossed his arms kicking dirt onto the woman's feet. "Where do you get off on attacking Sakura-Chan or stealing my fish?"

Sakura gulped unnoticed behind Naruto, worried and little touched that he was concerned about her. It did annoy her that he didn't seem to think that she could take care of herself.

"I think I'm beginning to like you." Anko finally said grinning happily at Naruto.

Sakura almost choked at that declaration. Anko starting to warm up to Naruto was like...well Sakura couldn't think of a good analogy but it was still not the most pleasant thing to have happen. "What are you doing here?"

"Oh," Anko said blinking, as she seemed to notice the pink haired girl as something other than a target. "That old lady, the Hokage, sent me and Kakashi out as reinforcements."

"Oh," Sakura managed while inner Sakura ranted and raved.

Kakashi nodded rubbing the back of his head, amusement in his tone. "She seemed to think that you guys might need the help. Which I guess you do huh?"

"So when's breakfast?" Anko interjected smiling as she bounced the fish she'd taken from Naruto up and down in her hand.

Sakura could only rub her temples and groan, this mission was just getting crazy. First, they lose three members and have three others placed in medical care, then they get an apparently psychotic woman and a seemingly flaky man as supervision. It almost made her afraid of what would happen when they finally reached Orochimaru and Sasuke-kun. What Gods had she upset and how could she get them to leave her alone?

Naruto summed up everything with one, loud word. "Shit!"

* * *

Anko grinned as she plopped down next to Naruto beside the fire-pit, picking up her stick of roasting fish. Snorting the blond ignored her and pulled his own fish from the fire, taking a bite while scowling. 

"Gods I'm hungry," Kiba mumbled sleepily, rubbing his stomach despite the wounds he was still bearing, as he sat down next to Sakura. As if to emphasize the point his stomach growled. Akamaru barked in agreement and stared hungrily at the roasting fish.

Sakura narrowed her eyes, chewing her own fish thoughtfully. "I'm not even sure you should be moving around yet Kiba-san." When the dog boy had waved her statement off and plucked a roasting fish out of the fire she rolled her eyes.

"So what happened to the real Baki-Sensei?" Kankurō finally asked, pausing in his attempt to repair his puppet to stare at the two Leaf Jonin.

Anko answered, her tone horribly chipper despite what she was talking about. "We'll we found him, he was deader than a doornail. It did look like he put up a fight, it was a surprise attack probably..." She paused as if musing over something and then continued "We guess it was at least two Jonin level enemies. We recovered what weapons we could and a few personal items since he was an ally."

Kakashi cut her off looking at Sakura. "During our search we found Shikamaru, but he was badly injured. So we had to take a minor detour to the nearest village with medical nins, he did however recover consciousness long enough for us to learn a few things. He had trapped one of the ninja that had been following you, but he was almost out of chakra."

"Yes and he said that Baki was an impostor." Anko said then nudge Naruto, who was looking decidedly disgruntled.

"Yes, we guess it was this fake Baki that arrived and since Shikamaru was so concentrated and tired they had an easy job of blind siding him. They left him for dead, we arrived about three days later but thankfully he's alright and should be back in Konoha by now."

Sakura breathed a sigh of relief as did Naruto and Kiba. They're relief was cut short by Anko. "So, what happened with you guys?" At this Naruto lowered his gaze for a moment before glancing at a still sleeping Temari.

"Naruto..." Sakura whispered but Gaara was already talking and he was to the point.

"Two of the ninja ambushed Naruto. He took care of one, the other escaped. I took care of that one." Gaara paused seeing the incredulous looks he was receiving and raised an eyebrow.

"He took care of one?" Kakashi said, looking at the blond closely, but Naruto didn't pay attention and then without a word got up and moved over to sit beside a still sleeping Temari. Shaking his head the white haired Jonin looked back at Anko who was looking bemused.

"I found the fake Shikamaru, he seemed injured but wasn't clear where." Shino answered, having finally come around from the blow Gaara had given him last night. He also refused to tell anyone else, he kept hinting that everybody might not be who they seemed. That's why we concocted that story about 'local kids playing ninja'."

"Didn't you realize he was a fake?" Kankurō said, muttering something that sounded a lot like 'leaf idiot' afterwards.

"It was obvious," Shino said, apparently unphased by the rebuke. "He had Shikamaru's voice down, but he didn't have his speech pattern or his pheromones. Even my bugs noticed the difference in chakra types. I just decided to pretend to go along with his lie, hoping that I could discover who else was involved."

"But why'd you two go so far from camp last night?" Sakura asked, frowning.

"That...I don't know. He suggested it and I went along." Shino answered simply and then was quiet for a moment. "I don't suppose you thought to keep him alive."

"Of course I did!" Sakura said defensively. "I've even tried to intergate him, but he's not talking."

"Lame ass," Kankurō muttered and then raised his voice ignoring the glares from Kiba and Sakura. "That explosion started the fight here in camp. Me and the dog boy were blindsided by that fake Baki, I recovered quick enough but that idiot dog was just getting his ass kicked."

"What was that?" Kiba shouted attempting to get up but Sakura pulled him back down.

"Meh, anyway I called for Sogetsu-"

"Screamed like a little baby you mean!" Kiba shouted cutting the puppeteer off.

"Another spirited one..." Anko muttered grinning but kept silent at a look Kakashi tossed at her.

"Whatever leg humper!" Kankurō said derisively to the angry looking ninja. "Anyway after I called him I tried to help the moron there, but I couldn't do much since Sogetsu attacked me. I was forced to retreat but I guess since the bastard is still alive he didn't need my help that much."

"What happened with Sogetsu?" Kakashi asked, studying the sand ninja closely.

"Wasn't much of a fight. He got over confident and I poisoned him...he decided to try and blow us both up, but I was already moving by the time he was halfway through his hand seals." Kankurō snorted looking back at his severely damaged puppet. "Not that Karasu faired as good. I'm not even sure if I can fix him with the stuff I have on hand."

* * *

The forest was silent, which considering the last few hours wasn't surprising. Even the birds were singing only once every so often while the more timid animals stopped every few minutes as if ready to flee at a moments notice. Added to this was the faint buzz of the few conversations from the camp. 

Not that Anko cared, she was staring disdainfully at the surrounding foliage, loathing this forest for all of its greenness. It was too much like the forest around Konoha for her liking, the only reason she'd even take this mission was to get the hell out of that village.

Sighing she came to a stop and turned to find Kakashi leaning against a tree, folding his arms and staring at her expectantly. "Well?" He asked after a moment, foot coming up to prop itself against the trunk.

"Hmm?" Anko said and then seeing his eye narrowed sighed in annoyance. "It's obvious isn't it? Ten to one, this whole thing was an attempt by the Sand to kill someone in the group. Probably Naruto since he's the biggest threat to them."

"Oh?" Kakashi said, humor in his tone. "I thought he was just a spirited kid that was going to die first."

"I was at the exams," Anko said simply. "He's going to get killed, but he is powerful. There's no getting around that and since he's the one that stopped Gaara the Sand are going to want his head." Smiling she crossed her own arms. "If you think about they have been rather smart about it. I mean, first they lure Sakura and Gaara away, probably the two most helpful to Naruto...then they launch an ambush on Naruto, taking out Temari while there at it."

"This fake Baki attacked Kiba and Kankurō..." Kakashi added, sounding bemused.

"Hoping to have them killed so that when Gaara and Sakura returned to camp the boy would loose control over his brothers death and slaughter the fake Baki."

"The two that ambushed Naruto would of course escape and all the witnesses would be gone, the mission would be aborted and all would be well." Kakashi finished and Anko grinned brightly.

"It's scary how well you can read my thoughts." She chirped happily. Mentally she was running along other thoughts that she was sure Kakashi would never think about. Not because he wasn't intelligent enough, but because he never thought along such lines. She could very easily believe that Orochimaru had planned this whole thing just to test the various ninja.

Kakashi sighed, his eye narrowing in boredom. "To bad they forgot that Sakura is Naruto's friend and any attempt on him would take priority over everybody else and that the two in camp obviously made mistakes."

Anko couldn't help but smirk. "This mission was almost destined to fail, none of them should have been sent. You need Jonin's for this type of situation...and not even normal Jonin's." Mentally however she couldn't fault sending Naruto or Gaara if you needed to send Gennin's. They were pure power after all.

"Enlightening." Kakashi said in a bored tone, pushing off the tree. "Well, we better tell them the mission is still on."

"Whatever." Anko said indifferently and Kakashi paused staring at her. Noticing his attention she raised an eyebrow, licking her lips suggestively. "What? You want to take a moment...and work on our teamwork?"

"Uh, that's ok..." Kakashi said, waving a hand. "Maybe later."

"Spoil sport." Anko muttered playfully, making up her mind. "I'm going to go visit the prisoner..." Kakashi nodded and turned, pulling his book out to read it. "Hey, check page 205!" Anko called out, grinning wickedly. "I'm limber enough for that."

Kakashi promptly disappeared in a puff of smoke and the woman couldn't help but chuckle. Who said Kakashi was unflappable? Shaking her head she turned and started toward the area where Sakura had said they were keeping the prisoner.

The sooner she had information the sooner she knew what exactly they were dealing with. She just wished she had remembered her thumbscrews, but since she hadn't she'd just have to get creative.

* * *

Sakura sighed striding into the clearing to stare at the restrained ninja. Gaara's sand prison had proven more than suitable for the task of controlling the man and she had never asked to remove it. To be honest she hadn't done much in way of interrogation, mainly because she wasn't sure how to go about it. She did however know one thing, this guy was from the Sand. 

His reaction to finding Gaara watching from a distance as she attempted interrogation had proven that. He had been so terrified that nothing she did seemed to get his attention. Pausing she stared at the disgruntled looking man, then crossed her arms. "You're really annoying."

At this the man spit at her and the pink haired ninja scowled as it landed on her foot. "Fine...I've tried being nice..." That said she uncrossed her arms and concentrated, surrounding her hands in a blue glow.

"A congestive heart failure is the gradual loss of pumping power for the heart." Sakura said in a hopefully conversational tone. In truth she was ready to retreat once more, she didn't want to cause this sort of pain. It didn't matter however, she couldn't retreat because this was about Naruto's safety. That was paramount to her.

She struck with precision, the flat of her palm striking the upper left part of his chest. Concentrating she found his main capillary and using her chakra started manipulating the pathways in and out of the heart. Her green eyes narrowed and then looked up at his surprised face, then saw the panic forming. It was like a wild beat trying to break free.

"I'm slowing your heart...you have maybe another minute before you die from heart failure." Sakura hissed then released the hold over his heart, so that it returned to normal ensuring that he didn't die on her. He looked horribly relieved and she took a deep breath. "Just tell me what I want to know an-"

He spit once more, spittle dripping off of her cheek. Sakura lost it for a minute her hand sliding up to his throat before striking with her medical technique, cutting off the blood flow to his brain for three seconds, then released it before brain damage could occur. "You will tell me what I want to know."

"Death is nothing." The man hissed looking defiant and Sakura took a step back, looking as frustrated as she felt. Then she heard clapping and turned to find a smirking Anko walking into the clearing.

"Bravo." The older woman said, coming to a stop halfway to the man. "Maybe there's hope for you yet."

"I-I was just trying..." Sakura stammered, worried about what kind of trouble she'd get into for her tactics.

"Huh?" Anko looked confused then grinned. "Oh, didn't she teach you anything? You're suppose to torture prisoners, how else do you get answers?" Glancing at the still defiant man she turned slightly serious, crossing her arms. ""So he won't talk?"

"Nothing useful." Sakura muttered looking down. "I tired everything I could think of..."

"How about the others?" Anko asked, only to frown when Sakura shook her head. "Why not?"

"I-I don't trust any of them to manage this." Sakura looked defiant herself. Let this woman just say one thing against her decision. She'd kick her ass and Inner Sakura was nodding vigorously, cracking her knuckles. "The information is important and I wouldn't let any of them put it at risk."

Anko raised an eyebrow, tilting her head slowly then grinned. "He's right you know. Death is nothing. There are much worse things...and I know quite a few." Her grin turned wicked. "Why don't you go back to camp for some lunch? You're not suited for this type of work anyway."

"But that'll only take a few minutes..." Sakura frowned, wondering what Anko was playing at. Besides she was suited for this task! It was a job all ninja needed to know how to preform.

"Ten minutes, to be exact." Anko said dismissively, producing a kunai testing it's edge. "Just him t me and get lunch...this isn't for a silly little apprentice of that hag."

Sakura clenched her fists just barely keeping from slapping the black haired Kunoichi. Fine, if that witch thought she could do so much better and in such a short amount of time, let her. Sakura knew better, it'd be impossible to get him to talk in ten minutes when she hadn't been able to the entire time they had had him. Turning she walked out of the clearing, leaving the delusional woman alone with the prisoner.

* * *

Temari's body ached in a hundred different places and she had a horribly bitter taste in her mouth, but that was nothing compared to the ringing in her ears. Her mind was even sluggish to get moving, the last thing she remembered was Naruto talking about some sort of new technique and then her world was blank. 

Opening her eyes to slits she stared up at the obviously makeshift roof and groaned.

Her vision was obscured a minute later by a whisker faced, blond haired, blue eyed boy. He was staring at her intently, almost as if he was unable to believe what he saw. Well obviously he was alright, which didn't surprise Temari at all since it was Naruto. It did however surprise her when he touched her shoulder gently and mouth her name.

She tried to give him a reassuring smile but was sure it came out as a grimace, but the blond didn't seem to notice. Naruto had been harder to read than the other Leaf ninja, but right now it was obvious he was happy and relieved to see her awake. Temari couldn't help but blush at that realization, he had been worried about her.

Finally her hearing cleared and she could hear the faint sound of his voice, asking if she was alright. Nodding she struggled to sit up, only to have the blond take her arm and ease her up into a sitting position. Then before she could find her voice to ask, he was offering her some water. Sipping gratefully she studied what she could of the camp, noting that it looked like a battle had been waged.

Then she saw Kankurō moving toward her and she inwardly groaned. He might have been the most talkative and acceptable brother but he did tend to get on her nerves quiet a bit.

"Sakura-Chan said that you might be a little woozy when you woke up." Naruto said, from what seemed like a million miles away. Shifting her eyes to him he smiled, continuing. "You got hit by a poisoned kunai and needles. But you're find now and, and..."

"Yes?" she managed to rasp out, wincing at the sound of her own voice.

"Nothing." Naruto finished lamely and then before Temari could grill him over the truth Kankurō was there and he told her everything that had happened while she was out. The sand Kunoichi tried to stand the instant she heard that Sogetsu had organized an attack on Naruto., then stopped when she learned he was dead along with everyone else involved.

However, learning that Baki the mentor they'd all had for so long, was dead she grew silent unable to really process the fact. He had been more like a father to them than their real one, he'd been the one that explained the birds and the bees to them. He had been the one to tell Temari how to handle the other girls in the village and how to get revenge on her brother Kankurō.

Sighing softly she laid back down, hearing that they had one more day of rest and then they would be moving. Her sense of loss could be set aside until after her mission was accomplished and she was safely back in the Sand village. She felt Naruto settling into a sitting position beside her and couldn't help but smile despite herself, closing her eyes. At least she had him.

He had killed for her. That was one of the most romantic things she had ever heard of. Drifting off her she couldn't help but dream; An enemy was hovering over her, looking triumphant. Then Naruto was between them, attacking the ninja with everything he had driving the boy away. He turned then and knelt lifting her up into his arms, facing moving toward hers for a kiss...

She jerked awake when the hand touched her shoulder. She had to fight to keep from cursing them for disturbing her dream. The only thing that really kept her from loosing her cool was the voice that was whispering in her ear. "Te-Chan." Making an 'mmm' sound she sat up, finding that it was indeed Naruto at her side.

"Upsey daisy Te-Chan. Kakashi-Sensei says that we need to get moving."

Temari felt her cheeks flush suddenly as what he was calling her finally penetrated her sleep doused brain. Te-chan? What the hell was that? "Watch it with the Te-chan whisker boy." She murmured getting up slowly, taking his hand, surprised at how stiff her body felt.

Sliding her foot under her fan she flicked it upwards, grabbing it with a twirl before sliding it home in her sash. Her arm and back groaning in protest. Hopefully they wouldn't be attacked anytime soon, otherwise she shouldn't be of much use.

"Sakura-chan said you'd probably be too stiff to move that fan." Naruto said, sounding impressed. "I'll get you some fish Te-Chan." That said the blond turned marching off as if on some great quest.

She didn't mind him calling her that, really she didn't, but she could see Kankurō who was standing nearby the makeshift tent and he was laughing. Before Temari could successfully follow Naruto, the boy in the black body suit was at her side, smiling insipidly. "'Oh Te-chan, your sooooo beautiful!'"

"Kankurō," Temari said after a moment of angry silence. "Keep it to your damn self. I'm not in the mood to-"

"I bet you would be if Naruto were-" Seconds later he was leaping away as Temari pulled her fan, slowly, but angrily.

"Stop."

Gaara's flat voice interjected from nowhere, freezing both of his siblings in their tracks. Striding out from among the trees nearby he stopped between them, arms crossed. He didn't say another word, as if daring them to attack each other now that he was in the middle. As if anyone would be that stupid, Temari thought angrily. She was upset however that he had decided to keep her from killing that bastard.

"We are the only Sand ninja left." Gaara said coldly. "We will not fight among ourselves." Then slowly, he shifted his gaze from the camp to Kankurō who took an involuntary step backwards. "You should spend less time teasing her...and more time trying to repair your dolls."

"Yea!" Temari interjected for no other reason that to annoy Kankurō who wouldn't dare attack or even tease her now. Her defiance died quickly however when the red head turned his gaze on her. Those eyes were still as cold as ever, despite his seemingly new found humanity.

"You should not pick a fight now in you're condition." Gaara paused, a faint smile cracking his blankness. "I will have to keep you and Naruto separated if you're going to be so stiff afterwards."

Temari stared at Gaara blankly for several long minutes until what he was insinuating started to sink in and she blushed seven kinds of red. HOW DARE HE! Worst yet, Gaara had just made a joke and he was looking entirely too pleased with himself.

Temari couldn't help but watch in fear as he started forward, speaking softly with a blushing and laughingNaruto when he reached the boys side.

Unable to believe what had just happened, she turned to stare at her other brother who was just standing there looking as if he had seen true terror. Not that she could blame him, but she couldn't help but get a final dig in on the boy. "Te-chan doesn't seem so funny now does it?"

Kankurō nodded distractedly, before he turned rushing to work on his dummies.

Temari smiled turning back to watch Naruto who was talking happily and trying to steal a pre-cooked fish. Te-Chan really didn't sound all that bad, actually it sounded rather...nice.

She was Te-Chan.

Her smile brightened despite herself.

* * *

AN: 

This chapter came a bit later than I had meant it too. It also strikes me of less quality than I'm used to producing. It was just diffcult to write, explaining everything and make it all flow properly, this chapter isn't my favorite.

I hope at least that you might enjoy it and forgive me for this. Also, I hate ot disillusional any Baki fans, but he is dead. Sorry, he was diffcult for me to write and I had to do something with him and since I don't mind killing a character I did so.

Other than that, the next chapter should be up sometime next month, around the 10th.

Sincerely,

Geor-sama


End file.
